Aheated battle was waged as representatives met from more than 120 countries to finalize language of a UN Environment Program treaty to phase out 12 chemical compounds labeled as "persistent organic pollutants"(POPs). Included among the "dirty dozen" are eight pesticides, two industrial solvents and two chemicals resulting from combustion and industrial processes. These POPs have been linked to birth defects, cancer and developmental problems in children and include chlordane, dioxin and PCBs as well as DDT.
In an uncommon debate that puts science before environmental ideology, public health advocates are promoting the use of the pesticide DDT (dichlordiphenyltrichlorethane) to keep it in the frontline in the war against malaria. According to the World Health Organization, 23 nations used DDT for malaria control in the past year. Nonetheless, malaria still infects about 300 million people a year and kills 2.5 million of them. In sub-Saharan Africa, it kills one out of every 20 children.
ILLUSTRATION: YU SHA
After decades of use to support farming, DDT was banned in the US in 1972 after there were claims of harmful effects on fish and wildlife. Its banning was influenced by the appearance of Rachel Carson's environmentalist docudrama Silent Spring (1962), wherein she described a fictitious rural community that was wiped-out by pesticides. The obvious implication was that this gruesome outcome would become a tragic reality without a halt to the production and use of pesticides.
Carson's claims that DDT was killing off animal life and poisoning humans had limited scientific foundation but seemed to carry credibility in that the author was a "disinterested" critic. Her claims that it had cumulative effect in living beings was misleading in that organisms can expel most of the DDT is encountered.
Fighting malaria
The chemical made its debut in 1939 as a healthy substitute for existing pesticides that were highly toxic. Its first most notable success was in Naples in 1944 when a typhus plague was quickly eliminated. Prior to the first use of DDT, Sri Lanka recorded 3 million cases of malaria in 1948. After using DDT, the incidence was reduced to only 17 cases by 1963. When its use was suspended, the number of malaria cases rose to over 3000 in 1967. By 1968, there were 1 million cases and 2.5 million in 1969.
Use of DDT also boosted the survival rate in the Third World. Parasitic and insect threats to the production and storage of food were reduced dramatically. Its use also allowed cultivation of previously undeveloped areas where plant infestation had caused widespread malnutrition.
DDT is banned even though in low doses it is not dangerous to humans and the environment. Of course, when used in massive quantities, as in US cotton farms in the 1950s, it can be harmful. Claims against DDT include that it was endangering the survival of some species of birds. In the US, the assertion that it was behind the demise of the patriotic symbol of America, the bald eagle, was a potent claim. Later, there were claims that it was reducing the world's oxygen supply through destruction of plant life. Then it was said to be contaminating the food chain and was a carcinogen.
Even so, a special commission nominated by the US National Academy of Science issued a report in September 1971 informing the EPA that "the toxicity studies on DDT have provided no indication that the insecticide is unsafe for humans when used in accordance with commonly recognized practice
Nonetheless, DDT was banned in the US by 1972 and soon much of the world followed. However, it appears that some people prefer saving trees instead of saving lives. After a temporary suspension of the ban, it was used to save the forests in the Northwest of the US from destruction by the tussock moth.
Yet DDT can reduce the human costs of malaria as measured in lost lives and ill health. Africa Fighting Malaria, a group in South Africa, estimates that not using DDT costs hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of lives a year in Southern Africa.
Even the claims that DDT lingers in soil for long periods contribute to affirming its effectiveness in malaria control. This allows it to repel mosquitoes for long periods after small doses are sprayed on the inside walls of dwellings.
Economic benefits
Besides saving lives, using DDT can offset much of the economic damage of malaria. Since projects in tropical areas may not be developed when there is a malarial threat, Harvard's Institute for International Development estimates that African countries could lose up to 1 percent of domestic economic growth.
Under planned UN strictures, DDT would be banned for agricultural uses while allowing its continued use for malaria control. However, there would also be stringent reporting restrictions.
Even simple compliance rules might pose an unmanageable burden upon healthcare professional in underdeveloped countries. Similarly, these countries may shun DDT rather than risk losing access to some of the nearly US$150 million in annual funds from industrialized countries to offset the costs of using alternatives to POPs as a condition for enforcing the bans.
It is bad enough that so many leaders of the developing world are unwilling to steer their economies to allow their citizens to gain from globalization. The rest of the world should not add to their misery by forcing them to forgo using a cheap and effective means to improve public health.
Safety and science are not the issues with DDT. In the end, too many decisions by governments concerning the use of alleged toxic substances are political and motivated by ideology. Many environmentalists are really objecting to technology and growth. In this instance, we can make a decision that directly affects the survival or improvement of living standards for countries in malarial regions.
Christopher Lingle is Global Strategist for eConoLytics.com.
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