With DDT, the cure is worse than the disease

The Feb. 9 Thousand Oaks Acorn contained a letter from Diego Cruz titled “Bring back DDT.” Wow—I’m stunned. Upon reading his letter, I think of Saturday Night Live’s Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain doing newscasters. Me as Dan, Mr. Cruz as Jane—or better, the Acorn editor as Jane. Therein lies the questionable act.   I agree with Mr. Cruz’s real point, that the massive loss of humanity to malaria is horrific. It is a dread disease indeed. More should be done to control its spread. Indeed, DDT is being used today in places in Africa to control it. DDT’s manufacture and use is legal in many countries.   Misguidedly Mr. Cruz sees DDT as savior. How about some facts? “Silent Spring” was written by Rachel Carson after scientifically indisputable studies linked DDT to the thinning of egg shells and the loss of birds. DDT was banned in the U.S. not because of the success of “Silent Spring”: DDT was banned because it was proven to be toxic to non-target organisms, including humans.

Did “Silent Spring” accelerate the timing of DDT’s ban? Certainly it did due to the public pressure that it triggered. But DDT would have been banned without “Silent Spring,” just as so many chemically similar pesticides have been banned for decades now.   Since DDT has continued to be produced and used overseas, Mr. Cruz’s and my body (all of ours actually) have increasing concentrations of DDT. Why? Because DDT is so lasting a molecule that it has spread around the globe. DDT’s ongoing use overseas, which includes mosquito control, causes increasing concentrations within top trophiclevel organisms such as humans.   So Mr. Cruz survived breathing in DDT as an uneducated child—so did I. Since then, I’ve become educated.

I’ve studied biology, chemistry, environmental science and engineering over the years. I seek information from multiple sources, because I need to assume they are all biased. I’m not an environmentalist. I seek reasoned, fact-based, moderate approaches to most things. DDT is a bad choice in the fight against malaria. James MacPherson, PhD, PE Newbury Park