All I want is the facts, ma’am.
Natalia, my stance on DDT began when I looked at the situation and
made it the subject of a 15 minute radio broadcast in which I
suggested that DDT appears to be the most effective, the safest, and
the cheapest pesticide ever invented.
I was surprised at the reaction that transcended the bounds of common
sense (it seemed to me). Demands that I be thrown off the air,
insinuations that I was trying to poison humanity – one lady wrote in
that I put the environmental movement back 15 years. (I suppose it
didn’t help that I pointed out in another program that 15 years in 15
minutes seemed to be a pretty effective program.)
So, I really looked deeply into the whole mess. There seemed to be not
a single scientific reason for banning DDT, but a lot of good reasons
for continuing its use. However, the propaganda against it was lurid
and frightening. Rachel Carson’s musing “a world without a robin” was
quiet compare with the shrieks from those who thought DDT was the work
f the devil.
Not that there was much desire to keep making it. At the time it was
banned, only one manufacturer – the Montrose Chemical Company in
Torrance California was making it. The big chemical companies didn’t
want to make it because there wasn’t much profit in it.
The company was messy pouring lots of waste DDT into the sewers that
emptied into Santa Monica Bay.
I postulated at the time that if the pelicans on Anacapa Island were
laying thin-shelled eggs, it could be because of this DDT waste. I was
closer than I realized.
A study released within the last year or two found an estimated 110
tons of DDT on the bottom of Santa Monica Bay. The waste showed a
footprint that leaned to the north – towards Anacapa.
Maybe?
I don’t know whether DDT is the best solution to the malaria problem –
but it does work. And as I found it doesn’t kill off the birds and
animals in the process – and there appears to be no record of a single
human death solely from DDT in the 25 plus years in which it was used.
I suggest that we go with what works. There may be treatments of the
problem that are far better, but we cannot experiment with these
methods for ten years while people are dying.
Maybe WHO should resume the spraying of huts – last time they used
335,000 sprayers treating the huts twice a year. That seemed to work.
It would also give a breathing space to the people seeking better
methods.
Of course, DDT may no longer work. In any event, scientists should be
coming up with a similarly benign replacement for use when mosquito
resistance builds. The trouble is that they have been turned off by
the intense furor from the environmentalists – which is a pity.
Particularly as the USP found it might be a cancer inhibitor!
Harry
**********************************
Henry George School of Social Science
of Los Angeles.
Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042
818 352-4141
**********************************
From: Darryl or Natalia [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 1:38 PM
To: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; pete; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Silent Spring is a case study in the tragedy
ofgood intentions
Are you saying that DDT use is the best solution, or that it is a last
resort best solution? It's difficult to tell. Did you actually read
the entire report, or even just the case studies? Saving lives is the
objective, and saving more lives is the outcome of an integrated
bio-management approach.
Natalia
Cordell, Arthur: ECOM wrote:
I agree with Harry on this.
arthur
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on behalf of Harry
Pollard
Sent: Sun 5/27/2007 11:11 AM
To: 'pete'; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Silent Spring is a case study in the tragedy
ofgood intentions
How many will die until then?
Better resume spraying huts until the new ideas bear fruit.
Harry
**********************************
Henry George School of Social Science
of Los Angeles.
Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042
818 352-4141
**********************************
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[mailto:futurework-
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]
On Behalf Of pete
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 6:27 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Silent Spring is a case study
in the tragedy
of good intentions
On Fri, 25 May 2007, Lawrence de Bivort
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Does anyone know if malaria can be stopped by any means
other
than
> stopping DDT?
Currently, work is proceeding on identifying genes for
agents which
can identify and attack the blood flukes which cause
malaria. These
are not intended for use in human vaccines, though that
is also an
option. The grander plan is to develop either breed of
mosquito,
or a strain of gut bacterium which coexists in the
mosquito digestive
system, which is intolerant of the malarial flukes, which
also
live in the mosquitoes gut. A malarial resistant mosquito
is
also a stronger and healthier mosquito, which will easily
outcompete
infected mosquitoes, and supplant them. It is tentatively
estimated
such work may yield results in ten years, possibly
sooner.
-Pete
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