Bald Eagle-DDT Myth Still Flying High

FoxNews.com ^ | Steven Milloy | 7/6/06

[RKV]

Banning DDT wasn’t about birds. It was about power. - Carve that in stone.

[Anti-Bubba182]

"Banning DDT wasn’t about birds. It was about power. The sooner the record on DDT is set straight, the sooner the environmentalists’ ill-gotten “authority” will be seen for what it is."

Here here! Most of that crowd regard Rachel Carson's, "Silent Spring" as holy writ and will Throw a fit!

[stboz]

Uganda has re-instated the use of DDT to reduce the occurence of malaria. Bet you they hear all kinds of sh*t from the left.

[VOA]

bump

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

Banning DDT was about saving the mosquitos! After all, what would the poor topfeeders have left to eat?

[Marius3188]

"spurring a 1940 federal law protecting bald eagles"

Another case for the Fed's not enforcing the law so they had to pass another law(Endangered Species Act).

We would have alot less problems if they would simply do it right the first time.

[Rembrandt]

Rachel Carson - the greatest murderer of the 20th Century, greater than Hitler, greater than Mao, greater than Stalin. And she is still the "gift" that keeps on giving, with millions around the globe dying every year from malaria that could be prevented easily by small, harmless, circumspect applications of DDT in homes and villages. But, hey, gotta save the southern, oyster throated, small winged, long tailed, binky beaked, crested titwillow.

[sergeantdave]

"the Associated Press reached into its file of bald eagle folklore and reported, “DDT poisoned the birds, killing some adults and making the eggs of those that survived thin."

I expect no less from the eco-fascists and their bed-wetting hyenas in the drooling propaganda press. The lies they scribble would impress their hero Goebbels.

[COEXERJ145]

Rachel Carson - the greatest murderer of the 20th Century, greater than Hitler, greater than Mao, greater than Stalin.

Right on the money.

[GEC]

Steven has picked up the torch handed to him by Dr. J. Gordon Edwards who passed away last year.

Edwards was the guy who would eat a spoonful of DDT every year to show that it was completely safe for humans.

As an entymologist, he was acutely aware of the faulty science behind the DDT ban.

Rachel lied and millions died. And they're still dying every day.

[Onelifetogive]

Rachel Carson - the greatest murderer of the 20th Century, greater than Hitler, greater than Mao, greater than Stalin. And she is still the "gift" that keeps on giving, with millions around the globe dying every year from malaria that could be prevented easily by small, harmless, circumspect applications of DDT in homes and villages. But, hey, gotta save the southern, oyster throated, small winged, long tailed, binky beaked, crested titwillow.

Worth reposting...

[Onelifetogive]

Why was banning DDT so important to environmentalists?

While the leftists are keen on saving most species, there is one in particular that they are intent on eradicating.....(Specifically, the "darker" versions of that species.)

[Gondring]

Well, the problem with this approach is that it makes many people think "well, if there's no egg thinning, then there's no problem"...but even if it's not egg thinning that decreased reproductive success, there are other problems. For example, an isomer of DDT (and I think o,p'-DDE, too??) mimics estrogen, binding to the hormone receptor and triggering biochemical activity as if it were estrogen itself--causing early ovulation and fertility loss. Meanwhile, p,p’-DDE (the primary metabolite of DDT) binds to androgen receptors, blocking them and disrupting the development of normal males. When male mice fetuses are exposed to DDE, they become feminized and demasculinized. Since these substances bioconcentrate (DDE in lower trophic levels), for those of us high on the food chain, I think it's an important consideration.

Also, note that Milloy cites 1978 reports of primary causes of death of Haliaeetus leucocephalus (American bald eagle) as being illegal hunting, etc....but the banning of DDT was prior to this. While I like many of the things Milloy does, this one seems like he's stretching a bit.

OTOH, IANAT (I am not a toxicologist...nor an ecological risk assessor...nor a piscivorous-bird expert...nor a ... ;-)

[Gondring]

While the leftists are keen on saving most species, there is one in particular that they are intent on eradicating.....(Specifically, the "darker" versions of that species.)

I think a recent risk assessment of replacing DDT with bednets in Africa came up with a cost of about a quarter-dollar per person.

[cpdiii]

Most of that crowd regard Rachel Carson's, "Silent Spring" as holy writ and will Throw a fit!

Her book led to the banning of DDT. As a result, she is responisible for more death on this earth than Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao Tseng. The greatest killer in the world has made a tremendous resurgence. The killer is Malaria.

[tomzz]

Rachel Carson is probably screwing Adolf Hitler, where they both are now...

[Rockingham]

There is distressingly good evidence that pesticides and their breakdown products of them damage the environment and human health. The science on pesticides and other environmental contaminants is still fraught with uncertainties, but a careful review of the articles in PubMed and other scientific databases should give pause to conscientious skeptics.

That said, I groan at the bureaucratic command and control mindset, reflexive hostility to business and industry, and near animist views of many environmentalists. Many regard humans as barely worthy of survival, and environmentalism is virtually their religion.

As for DDT, for all its benefits, resistance develops rapidly and it is horrifically broad in its effects, which reduces the food available for birds and the levels of beneficial insects. Africa and the international health bureaucracy finally seem to be permitting the limited use of DDT laced netting as a cheap and effective antimalarial strategy. If DDT were permitted to be used again in this country, it would find little use today due to the many far better insecticides and control strategies available.

[LibertarianInExile]

"There is distressingly good evidence that pesticides and their breakdown products of them damage the environment and human health."

Feel free to post at least a LINK to the evidence of which you speak.

[Rockingham]

Take a look a these:

Use Of Insecticides Linked To Lasting Neurological Problems For Farmers
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050428172455.htm

EU Research Suggests That PCBs Damage Sperm -- But Finds No Dramatic Effect On Male Fertility
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051016085021.htm

Researchers Find Link Between Developmental Exposure To Pesticide And Parkinson's Risk
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060707020709.htm

Common Pesticide May Reduce Fertility In Women
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050912124225.htm

Pesticides Exposure Associated With Parkinson's Disease
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626091842.htm

DDT In Mothers Linked To Developmental Delays In Children, UC Berkeley Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705090426.htm

In the PubMed book section, see "Endocrine Disruptors" in the treatise Developmental Biology:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=ddt+AND+dbio%5Bbook%5D+AND+132397%5Buid%5D&rid=dbio.box.5198#5203

This of course barely touches the subject, and if you want more, spend an hour or two reading in a large hospital, university, or medical school library. As a matter of public policy, they are almost all open to the public. With a little effort, you can read past the jargon and complicated names in textbooks, treatises, and journal articles. You are unlikely to leave with a belief that pesticides are an unalloyed good with no harms to humans or wildlife.