Ban of DDT in the US - Essay Example

The book listed the negative impact of pesticides on the environment, particularly wildlife and birds. It also argued that DDT was hazardous to the human health, causing cancer. The book was widely read causing an uproar in the general public, apart from already frowning scientists fraternity. The result was that in 1962, President Kennedy ordered the Science Advisory Committee (SAC) to probe into Carson’s claims and establish their validity. SAC in turn agreed with Carson’s claim and recommended phasing out the DDT from usage.

DDT has the property of getting accumulated in the animal tissues, particularly in animals that are higher in food chain. Thus apex predators (such as bald eagle) and marine animals( such as crayfish, sea shrimp) were majorly poisoned due to DDT. It was also found out that DDT causes long term reproductive problems in birds (such as birds of prey, waterfowl) as the shell thins down. As per Environmental Defence Fund studies, even low doses of DDT on a continuous bases might result in pre mature birth and low birth babies( for the babies who were exposed to DDT before birth) and decreased duration of milk supply in nursing mothers (Environmental Defense Fund).

Studies also show that prevalence of diabities increases with serum DDT level (Jones, Maguire and Griffin 287-8). Food webs represent the predator-prey relationship between the species in earth’s ecosystem. Scientists claimed that DDT and its residuals were carried from the warmer regions of the earth to the Arctic, through global distillation, causing accumulation of the toxic elements in the Arctic food web. When DDT is used in much larger quantities, than required for controlling Malaria carrying mosquitoes, the mosquitoes become resistant to the pesticide , thus greatly reducing its effect.

In agriculture , usage of large quantities of DDT led to the problem of mosquito resistance. DDT ban is seen as a major