DDT


 * Climate Change is hazardous to your health ||
 * Smoking ||
 * Asbestos ||
 * DDT ||
 * Climate Change ||
 * Evaluating timelines ||
 * Current attitudes towards climate change ||
 * Progressing attitudes towards climate change ||
 * References ||

**Health risk example 3 **

The rise of DDT owes much to the advent of World War 2, when outbreaks of malaria and typhus threatened to reduce soldiers and civilian populations to victims of both conflict and disease. 19.  It was cheap to make, it worked and it continued to work long after application - what more did authorities need? Certainly in early days it appeared to be benign to human health. But the chemical synthesis that inflicted central nervous system paralysis upon a range of insect populations was not as discriminate as first observed. 20.

Twenty years later, evidence that DDT (and other organochlorines) bioaccumulates lead to usage restrictions. It also became clear that DDT’s stability and fat solubility allow it to biomagnify all the way up the food chain - to humans. The real cost of DDT was revealed. 21.  Though its commercial lifespan proved relatively short, DDT’s biological effects have proved enduring. Glen Johnson from the Department of Sustainability and Environment in Australia suggests that, even 20 years after agricultural applications of DDT ceased, its effects are still being felt on the environment. 22.

The production and application of DDT continues to this day, albeit on a smaller scale.



**DDT TIMELINE ** 23,24,25,26.

body lice, typhus and bubonic plague amongst military and civilians. || DDT and other organochlorines introduced into Australia for use in agriculture and pest control, peaking in use around 1974. || Australian Market Basket Survey (now Australian Total Diet Survey) begins monitoring food in Australia, including pesticide residues in foods. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Standing Committee of Agriculture in Australia formulated policy for de-registering persistent organochlorine pesticides as soon as replacement pesticides become available. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">In Australia, Australian Academy of Science report titled “The Use of DDT in Australia” highlights concerns associated with use of DDT, but recommends use should continue, as associated benefits outweigh disadvantages. It also emphasised need for research to identify DDT alternatives with fewer disadvantages. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">By end of year, virtually every agricultural use of organochlorines in Australia is deregistered. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Vietnam experiences decline in malaria and 97% mortality reduction after switching from a poorly-funded DDT-based campaign to a program of prompt treatment, bednets and pyrethroid insecticides. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Use of organochlorines as termiticides phased out in Australia by June 30, with the exception of chlordane use in Northern Territory as an under-slab termiticide - this remained registered until 1997. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">CEI (Competitive Enterprise Institute) publishes article calling for widespread //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> re-introduction //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> of DDT to fight malaria. The CEI is a right-wing think tank whose sponsors have included Dow Chemical and Monsanto - two former manufacturers of DDT. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; vertical-align: super;">30,31. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">However, Centers for Disease Control reports that “Overall, in spite of some positive associations for some cancers within certain subgroups of people, there is no clear evidence that exposure to DDT/DDE causes cancer in humans.” || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of DDT are produced annually for vector control (indoor residual spraying of walls to kill or repel mosquitoes and other insects). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">More than 40 years after DDT is banned in USA, California Condors continue to present thin-shell problems. ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Date ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Events ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1874 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (DDT) first synthesised by a German chemist Othmar Zeidler. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1939 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">DDT's properties as an organochlorine insecticide discovered by Swiss chemist <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">Paul Hermann Müller <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">, employee of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">J. R. Geigy AG <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> in <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">Basel <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">. Effective, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and persistent in the environment, DDT is immediately lauded as the answer to stamping out insect borne disease and winning farmers’ war against crop destruction. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1939 - 1945 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">With pyrethrum in short supply (Japan was major supplier until WWII), DDT rapidly became seen as a miracle for its control of malaria,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Early 1940’s || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Widely used throughout Europe and USA to control mosquitoes - contributing to eradication of malaria and typhus in these regions. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1948 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Paul Müller awarded the <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">, "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods.” ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1940’s - 50’s || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Reportedly the ‘Mickey Slim’ enjoys brief popularity as a cocktail made by combining gin with a pinch of DDT. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1950 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Malaria cases fell from 400,0000 in 1946 to virtually none in 1950. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1950’s - 60’s || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Evidence of insect resistance to DDT begins appearing.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1959 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">US annual usage reaches a peak of 35,771 tonnes (approx 80 million lbs). ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Early 1960’s || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Australia - Organochlorines banned for use on food-producing animals (livestock and poultry) due to concerns about residue. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1960’s -70’s || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Increasing concerns about bio-accumulative nature of organochlorines. In 70’s, labelling laws require statements about use of organochlorines on crops and pastures which could be consumed by food-producing animals. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1962 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Naturalist-author Rachel Carson publishes landmark book Silent Spring, a book arguing that <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">pesticides <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">, including DDT, were poisoning both wildlife and the environment and endangering human health. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1963 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">US <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">President Kennedy <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> ordered his Science Advisory Committee to investigate Carson's claims. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1968 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Hungary bans agricultural use of DDT. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1969 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">US government restricts use of DDT. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1970 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Norway and Sweden ban agricultural use of DDT. During this decade and next, most developed countries follow suit.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1972 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">In USA, EPA bans use of DDT.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1981 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Number of approved uses for all organochlorines in Australian agriculture significantly reduced. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1983 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers prove DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, was responsible for the eggshell thinning, which caused sharp population declines among certain bird species. A decade after the DDT ban, a report states populations of relatively rare birds like the bald eagle, brown pelican, osprey and peregrine falcon are once again increasing. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1984 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">A world survey showed that 233 species, mostly insects, are resistant to DDT. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; vertical-align: super;">27. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1985 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Continuing to produce DDT for foreign markets, the US exports over 300 tons annually.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1987 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Australia - organochlorine stock recall commences. Customs prohibits import into Australia without Ministerial approval. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1989 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Australian Science and Technology Council recognise problem of persistent agricultural land contamination: organochlorine residue continues to appear in crops, despite long-term ban. A conference on strategies for management of organochlorine residues is held in Ballarat. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1991 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">DDT continues to be manufactured by Enichem Synthesis (Italy), Hindustan Insecticides (India) and P.T Montrose Pesticido Nusantara (Indonesia). It is also produced in Mexico.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1994 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">A Zimbabwean study found high levels of DDE residues in breast milk commonly exceeded those required to cause hyporeflexia in infants. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; vertical-align: super;">28. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1995 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">The United Nations Environment Program proposes an international treaty to reduce and/or eliminate 12 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), including DDT, from worldwide production and use.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">1996 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">The UK Working Party of Pesticide Residues (WPPR) finds residues of DDT in butter, milk, eggs, lamb, potatoes, deep water fish and shell fish - unsure whether these residues are the result of recent illegal use or historical contamination. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; vertical-align: super;">29. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2000 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Mexico eliminates need for DDT in its battle against malaria, using drugs, improved personal/household hygiene, and biological elimination of mosquito breeding sites. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2001 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) signed. Instigated in 1995 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this international environmental treaty (effective May 2004) aims to eliminate or restrict use of “...chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food chain and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment".
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2002 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">EPA classifies DDT as a Class B2 ‘probable carcinogen’.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2006 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the use of DDT and other insecticides in indoor residual spraying (IRS) in both epidemic areas and those with constant and high malaria transmission, including throughout Africa. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2006 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">DDT produced and used in Ethiopia for malaria vector control as indoor residual spray in accordance with WHO recommendation and guidelines. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2007 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Referring to deaths due to malaria, Robert Gwadz of the <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-decoration: none;">National Institutes of Health <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> says "The ban on DDT may have killed 20 million children." ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2009 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Indonesia ratifies Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and ceases manufacture of DDT. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; vertical-align: super;">32. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2010 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Despite worldwide ban, agricultural use of DDT continues in India. North Korea and possibly elsewhere.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2012 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">The debate regarding the use of DDT for vector control continues. Those supporting its use argue it can save millions of lives and is not harmful to humans when used in IRS. Those against DDT use argue health risks to humans and animals are well-documented (including evidence of biomagnification), and that there are benign and more effective pesticide and behavioural alternatives. ||


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">SUMMARY OF DDT TIMELINE **