Population Resource Environment 2 - Essay Example

DDT should be banned worldwide: While DDT eliminates pests, it creates its own irregularities DDT or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was discoveredto have insecticide properties during the 1940s. Because of this, it was used mainly to reduce and to eliminate malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The use of this pesticide greatly impacted worldwide environmental and health conditions. And it has created divisions because of its advantages and disadvantages. DDT was given high praises because of its capability to reduce malaria worldwide.

It was even used by the World Health Organization in its quest to fight the ancient disease, malaria. However, it was less effective in tropical regions rather than areas with high socioeconomic status and well-organized healthcare systems because of the continuous life cycle of the mosquitoes and poor infrastructure (Sadasivaiah, et.al., p.249-250). Eventually, though these mosquitoes developed and became resistant with the pesticide causing a decline in the effectivity of DDT (World Health Organization, p.4-5). The debate with the use of DDT started when its properties were discovered to adversely affect not only insects but also birds and humans.

Because of this, further studies have been made to determine if there was a need to ban the use of DDT entirely. This paper would discuss why the use of this pesticide must be banned entirely because of its harmful and toxic effects in humans and other living things. This paper will show that it did not only adversely affect the environment during the time when DDT was sprayed but it also has long-standing effects in the environment.The most famous work that started to question the use of DDT was the book The Silent Spring.

Rachel Carson, the author of the book, argued that DDT has an effect in the metabolism of birds, causing eggshell thinning and embryo death, and their reproductive system, causing decrease in their fertility (Carson, p.103-127; Sadasivaiah, p.251). Since DDT can be sprayed, its components can also be airborne causing birds to breathe it. The seeds from the plants that they eat may also have been affected by DDT because of soil erosion. Blown by the wind, DDT in the soil can travel and can be consumed by plants from other areas.

Fishes have also become victims of DDT. When DDT enters the streams, the stream environment is altered because of the death of aquatic insects that serve as food for the fishes and the fishes’ reproductive and health is also affected because of living in contaminated waters (Carson, p.129-153).Studies have also established that women with breast cancer have an alarmingly high amount of DDT in their systems, especially in their breasts (Hardin, p.156; Goklany, p.13). This shows that DDT can be ingested by babies and can eventually cause damage in their systems.

DDT is a highly persistent and lipid soluble which can accumulate in the food chain since its life spans up to 11 years (Sadasivaiah, p.251). This clearly indicates that DDT does not only affect the environment during the time that it was used, it can also affect the lives of people a decade after because they are still exposed to the components of DDT.DDT has made waves cleaning up the environment of such insects that causes diseases but in the long run, it created its own ailments and irregularities with other species.

There are possible alternatives to replace DDT as a means of eliminating such epidemic-bringing insects. Banning the use of DDT, whether outdoor or indoor use can eventually reduce the effects of DDT decades after. With this, it can possibly eliminate the by-products of DDT which can reduce the irregularities in the ecosystem. The use of biological insecticides is also safer for the environment while eliminating the cause of the insect and pest problems.ReferencesCarson, R. Silent Spring, 40th anniversary ed.

Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.Goklany, I. The precautionary principle: A critical appraisal of environmental risk assessment. MA: Cato Institute, 2001.Harding, F. Breast cancer: cause, prevention, cure. UK: Tekline Publishing, 2007.Sadasivaiah, S. et.al. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) for indoor residual spraying in Africa: How can it be used for malaria control? American Journal for Tropical Medical Hygiene 77, pp.249-263, 2007.World Health Organization. Indoor residual spraying: use of indoor residual spraying for scaling up global malaria control and elimination.

World Health Organization, 2006.