DDT: Curse or Blessing?Michael R. Barr, Jesus M. Garza and Ludmilla Laranjeiras

National University

It is commonly used as a pesticide related to insect control, but it can be used for public health resolutions as well, such as malaria, typhus, body lice, and bubonic plague (NPIC, 2013).

Second World War

Pesticide – Insect control

Public Health Resolutions

What is DDT?

“It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modem and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth” (Carson, 1962, p.297).

Prohibited in the United States by EPA - 12/31/1972Impacts on Public HealthImpacts on the EnvironmentThe Ecosystem and Food chain.

DDT in the United States

“while political boundaries divide people, they do not partition ecosystems that fall at borders” (Masten & Davis, 2009, p.215).

DDT long lifeInternational useContamination by air, water and soil

DDT around the World

“EPA works with other agencies and countries to advise them on how DDT programs are developed and monitored, with the goal that DDT be used only within the context of Integrated Vector Management programs, and that it be kept out of agricultural sectors” (EPA, DDT - A brief history and status, 2013, para.8).

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)Some Nations still use DDTThe Malaria problem

DDT around the World

Short Term Thin eggshells Sterile eggshells Decrease in bald eagle population Biomagnification

Long Term Animals cannot metabolize the

substance Re-dispersed through precipitation Significant contamination of soil Loss of biodiversity

DDT Inherent Risks

Kills disease causing organisms Effective for long periods Beneficial for plants Durable in nature Low price Low toxicity to humans

DDT Benefits

Exposure Acute (Short Term) Accidentally swallowing soil Having skin contact with the soil Inhaling DDT vapor or breathing in DDT in dust

Effects of exposure depend on Dose The duration How exposed Personal traits and habits (Hygiene) Whether other chemicals are present

Toxological Effects

Eliminate dangerous POPs, starting with the 12 worst Support the transition to safer alternatives Target additional POPs for action Cleanup old stockpiles and equipment containing POPs Work together for a POPs-free future

Managing World-Wide Pollutant Problems

The "Dirty Dozen"1 - Aldrin ¹ 2 - Chlordane ¹ 3 - DDT (Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane) ¹4 - Dieldrin ¹5 - Endrin ¹6 - Heptachlor ¹7 - Hexachlorobenzene ¹,²8 - Mirex¹9 - Toxaphene¹10 - PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls) ¹,²11 - Dioxin (Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins) ² 12 - Furans (Polychlorinated dibenzofurans) ² 

(KEY: 1-Intentionally Produced. 2-Unintentionally Produced - Result from some industrial processes and combustion.)

Category Country CommentParties that have notified the Register on DDT use

Ethiopia - Reported use, but stopped in 2009

India - Reported useMauritius - Reported useZambia - Reported use

China - Reported no use Madagascar - Reported no use Morocco - Reported no use Yemen - Reported no use Eritrea - No information reported Mozambique - No information reported Namibia - No information reported South Africa - No information reported Swaziland - No information reported Uganda - Used DDT in 2008, but stopped after one season

Marshall Islands - No information available Myanmar - Informal reports suggest DDT is no longer used

Botswana - DDT kept for emergency purposes

Senegal - DDT kept for emergency purposes

Venezuela - DDT kept for emergency purposes

Parties that use DDT but have not yet notified the Register

DPR Korea - Indicated that use is continuedGambia - Reintroduction of DDT from 2008

Non-Parties that use DDT Zimbabwe - No information reported

Table Information available on use of DDT during the reporting period, 2006-2009

Who is still using DDT?

Alternative Strategies

Non-ChemicalChemical

* Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) is tasked with two strategic areas in chemical control: the formulation and re-purposing of existing active ingredients and the development of new active ingredients

DDT’s hydrophobic nature is both a blessing and a curse DDT has a place in the control of disease vectors, albeit a

limited one. Alternative chemical and non-chemical strategies for

insect disease vectors are necessary for increasing and maintaining sustainable public health in the developing world.

Care must be exercised to prevent significant bioaccumulation of DDT into the environment

Conclusions

ReferencesCarson, R. (1962). Silent Spring. Retrieved from

http://www.science.smith.edu/~jcardell/Courses/EGR100/protect/reading/SilentSpring.pdf

Kapoor, C. (2011, September 5). Benefits of ddt. Retrieved from http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-ddt

Masten, D., & Davis, S. (2009). Principles of Environmental Engineering & Science. 2nd ed.

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC). (2013). DDT technical fact sheet. Retrieved

from http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddttech.pdf

Public health statement for ddt, dde, and ddd. (2002, September). Retrieved from http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=79&tid=20

Reks, A., O’Toole, D., Murphey, I., Winslow, P., & Amendola, T. (n.d.). Effects of ddt. Retrieved from http://temperateddtg.tripod.com/id2.html

RSC Advancing the Chemical Sciences. (2013). Substance DDT. Retrieved from

http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/wiki/Substance:DDT

United Nations Environment Program, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2010). Report of the expert group on the assessment of the production and use of DDT and its alternatives for disease vector control. UNEP/POPS/COP.5/5.

United States Environmental Protection Agency (2013). DDT - A brief history and status. Retrieved from

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/ddt-brief-history-status.htm

United States Environmental Protection Agency (2013). DDT. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/ddt.htm

Van den Berg, H. (2009). Global Status of DDT and Its Alternatives for Use in Vector Control to Prevent Disease. Environmental Health Perspectives. November 2009. 117:11. 1656-1663. Retrieved April 28, 2013 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801202/.