Visitors Now:
Total Visits:
Total Stories:
Profile image
By ScienceBlogs (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views

Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

Why is Yale Environment 360 spreading the DDT ban myth? [Deltoid]

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:03
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

(Before It's News)

Yale Environment 360 has damaged its credibility by publishing a piece by Fred Pearce claiming:

When Rachel Carson’s sound case against the mass application of DDT as an agricultural pesticide morphed into blanket opposition to much smaller indoor applications to fight malaria, it arguably resulted in millions of deaths as the diseases resurged.

But the public health use of DDT was not banned. Look at the graph below (from Nature Vol 294 26 November 1981 page 302) plotting DDT usage against malaria cases in India during the malaria resurgence in the 70s.

Malaria vs DDT, India

It is arguable whether the increased use of DDT caused a resurgence in malaria (by promoting DDT resistance in mosquitoes) or alternatively the resurgence caused an increase in DDT use in an attempt to get it under control, but it cannot be honestly argued that a blanket ban on DDT caused the resurgence.

Shame on you, Yale Environment 360.




Source:

Report abuse

Comments

Your Comments
Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

Top Stories
Recent Stories

Register

Newsletter

Email this story
Email this story

If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.