admin
09-21-2003, 05:15 PM
Years ago the government banned the use of DDT. People have become to think that DDT and dioxin are some of the most toxic of materials. They are wrong on both counts.
The world is beginning to pay the price for a misinformed
decision on DDT.
"Not only did government regulators discount the overwhelming scientific evidence of the effectiveness and relative safety of DDT, but they also failed to appreciate the distinction between its large-scale use in agriculture and its more limited application for controlling insect carriers of human disease. Although DDT is a (modestly) toxic substance, there is a big difference between applying large amounts of it in the environment — as American farmers did before it was banned — and applying it carefully and sparingly to fight mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects. The use of DDT use for insect control would require relatively small amounts of the chemical. This is an important distinction: A basic principle of toxicology is that the dose makes the poison."
Read article
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-hmiller091903.asp
The world is beginning to pay the price for a misinformed
decision on DDT.
"Not only did government regulators discount the overwhelming scientific evidence of the effectiveness and relative safety of DDT, but they also failed to appreciate the distinction between its large-scale use in agriculture and its more limited application for controlling insect carriers of human disease. Although DDT is a (modestly) toxic substance, there is a big difference between applying large amounts of it in the environment — as American farmers did before it was banned — and applying it carefully and sparingly to fight mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects. The use of DDT use for insect control would require relatively small amounts of the chemical. This is an important distinction: A basic principle of toxicology is that the dose makes the poison."
Read article
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-hmiller091903.asp