What a completely bizarre opinion on Rachel Carson. How many deaths did she prevent by pointing out the health drawbacks of spraying the world in DDT and other non-specific chemicals dangerous to life?
>A review article in The Lancet states, "research has shown that exposure to DDT at amounts that would be needed in malaria control might cause preterm birth and early weaning ... toxicological evidence shows endocrine-disrupting properties; human data also indicate possible disruption in semen quality, menstruation, gestational length, and duration of lactation."[38]
>Other studies document decreases in semen quality among men with high exposures (generally from IRS).[88]
>Studies are inconsistent on whether high blood DDT or DDE levels increase time to pregnancy.[65] In mothers with high DDE blood serum levels, daughters may have up to a 32% increase in the probability of conceiving, but increased DDT levels have been associated with a 16% decrease in one study.[89]
>Indirect exposure of mothers through workers directly in contact with DDT is associated with an increase in spontaneous abortions[87]
>Other studies found that DDT or DDE interfere with proper thyroid function in pregnancy and childhood.[65][90]
Mothers with high levels of DDT circulating in their blood during pregnancy were found to be more likely to give birth to children who would go on to develop autism.[91][92]
There are other less toxic alternatives to DDT for mosquito control and Rachel Carson helped open our eyes to the fact that they are needed.
The slur against Carson is a myth that got started in the last couple of decades by anti-regulatory think tanks as a way to attack one of the foundations of the modern environmental movement. It's complete nonsense because 1) DDT spraying is still considered a legitimate method of mosquito (i.e. malaria) control, which was never the main problem anyway - widespread agricultural use was what led to "Silent Spring", and 2) DDT resistance eventually limited its effectiveness even for mosquito control. Read "Merchants of Doubt" if you want the gory details.
The Nixon admin banned DDT in 1972. Just in the USA.
Somehow, this got translated into; 'Carson got DDT banned and all malaria deaths are her fault'. This is despite the fact that where there are mosquitos we are still using DDT.
It's the same logic as "If we don't use antibiotics in cattle they'll all die!". Totally ignoring the unintended consequences of antibiotic resistance in humans.
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry...
From- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT
>A review article in The Lancet states, "research has shown that exposure to DDT at amounts that would be needed in malaria control might cause preterm birth and early weaning ... toxicological evidence shows endocrine-disrupting properties; human data also indicate possible disruption in semen quality, menstruation, gestational length, and duration of lactation."[38]
>Other studies document decreases in semen quality among men with high exposures (generally from IRS).[88]
>Studies are inconsistent on whether high blood DDT or DDE levels increase time to pregnancy.[65] In mothers with high DDE blood serum levels, daughters may have up to a 32% increase in the probability of conceiving, but increased DDT levels have been associated with a 16% decrease in one study.[89]
>Indirect exposure of mothers through workers directly in contact with DDT is associated with an increase in spontaneous abortions[87]
>Other studies found that DDT or DDE interfere with proper thyroid function in pregnancy and childhood.[65][90] Mothers with high levels of DDT circulating in their blood during pregnancy were found to be more likely to give birth to children who would go on to develop autism.[91][92]
There are other less toxic alternatives to DDT for mosquito control and Rachel Carson helped open our eyes to the fact that they are needed.