One of the new EPA's first acts was to ban DDT, due to both concerns about harm to the environment and the potential for harm to human health. There was also evidence linking DDT with severe declines in bald eagle populations due to thinning eggshells. Since DDT was banned in the U. Recently, Carson's work has again been targeted by conservative groups. Capitalizing on the iconic status of DDT, these groups are promoting widespread use of the chemical for malaria control as part of a broader effort to manufacture doubt about the dangers of pesticides, and to promote their anti-regulatory, free market agenda while attempting to undermine and roll back the environmental movement's legacy.
Many DDT promoters are also in the business of denying climate change. The science on DDT's human health impacts has continued to mount over the years, with recent studies showing harm at very low levels of exposure.
Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane DDT Factsheet. Minus Related Pages. DDT exposure in people Exposure to DDT in people likely occurs from eating foods, including meat, fish, and dairy products.
A small portion of the population had measurable DDT. Rather, they accumulate, especially in fat. Though the presence of a chemical in the body does not mean that it is harmful, all things being equal it is usually preferable to have chemicals and drugs metabolized and excreted rather than be stored, especially if the chemical has appreciable toxicity. For example, the half-life the amount of time that it takes for a 50 percent reduction of the drug or chemical, usually in the blood of aspirin is 20 minutes, but for DDT, it is about 10 years.
So, there is little question that DDT, or one of its metabolites that could be found in virtually all of us in the s should be present even now. There is no legitimate worry about human toxicity of DDT. Sixty percent of Americans weren't even alive in when DDT was banned, but people think it must have been banned because it was toxic. Not so. According to the CDC , "No effects have been reported in adults given small daily doses of DDT by capsule for 18 months up to 35 milligrams [mg] every day.
First things first: 35 mg is not a "small daily dose," at least when compared to what we usually think of when we think dose: drugs. Here are typical daily doses for a few common medicines:. Also, "People exposed for a long time to small amounts of DDT less than 20 mg per day , such as people who worked in factories where DDT was made, had some minor changes in the levels of liver enzymes in the blood. And , "People who worked with DDT for a long time had some changes in the levels of liver enzymes, but these improved after exposure stopped.
There have been reports of serious, but non-lethal human poisoning from DDT, but these involved very large doses. For example, a father and son mistook DDT for flour , and became seriously ill, although they both recovered in two weeks. The President of the United States convened experts to examine the issue, and the Use of Pesticides report disputed claims that DDT was a potential to human health or that alternatives would be just as effective.
The only thing they noted was that regulations were deficient, so farmers who thought it worked well and was safe might be inclined to think more might work even better and over-spray it, with potential problems in the future that were not occurring at the time.
Residues can be detected in ecosystems, for the reasons I showed earlier, so there have been lingering concerns about If the evidence of human harm is weak Note 2 , then the evidence of carcinogenicity of DDT in humans is even weaker, according to the CDC :. No definitive association with these cancers has been made. Please email webmaster sierraclub. By signing up, you are opting in to receive periodic communications from the Sierra Club.
Carey Gillam is a journalist and author , and a public interest researcher for US Right to Know , a not-for-profit food industry research group. You can follow her on Twitter careygillam. Report shows a critical need to study other pesticides and chemicals. By Carey Gillam Apr 23 Disrupting hormones DDT dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane was introduced in the s as a highly effective insecticide designed to combat the spread of malaria, typhus, and other diseases carried by insects.
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