Gabe wrote: >Can anyone shed light on the Pros and Cons of DDT usage? I remember reading recently (don't know where) that the scares of DDT were unfounded and were more of commercial rumour-mongering than true scientific fact; that the third world would benefit from the usage of DDT to rid the stagnant waters of mosquito-breeding larvae. > Peter D'Souza responded: Gabe, perhaps you're thinking of this editorial from the Wall Street Journal: Death by Environmentalist December 29, 2004; Page A8
Mario adds: Everyone should read the Death by Environmentalist editorial in the Wall Street Jopurnal mentioned above and make up their own minds. It has been a dirty little secret for quite some time that the militant environmentalists are to blame for the resurgence of malaria, by pressurizing countries to ban DDT, using spurious "evidence" of health effects that were wildly overblown, especially when compared with the health risks of contracting malaria in tropical countries. It is one thing to ban a relatively safe substance as "harmful" in the relatively clean and non-lethal environments of cold northern climates, where such a ban was mostly silly but imposed some unnecessary costs on the economy. It is a human tragedy when you ban such a substance where the alternative is the resurgence of a dangerous and fatal disease like malaria.
