Glenna Rose wrote:
writes:

James wrote:

This may be off topic but considering the chemical vs organic
arguement, I think it should be included here.

A google of DDT and death will result in articles such as

http://info-pollution.com/moreddt.htm

I think we can have an interesting discussion after reading several of
those articles.

Is DDT more harmful than useful?


DDT would be great for eradicating malaria. IMHO, malaria is the reason
Africa is a backwards continent that never will amount to much. If they
could beat malaria, Africa could join the 20th century -- or maybe even
the 21st. g

DDT is relatively non-toxic to humans, and it doesn't take much to spray
the inside walls of houses to kill the mosquitoes.

Developed countries that have already beaten malaria can get by without
DDT. We tend to use way too much pesticides in general.

Best regards,
Bob


I'm still wondering why there is not more widespread use of products such
as mosquito dunks, they work and work very well. It seems to be a more
effective method than spraying chemicals. I take special pleasure in
placing them in my fish pond knowing the mosquitoes will come, lay their
eggs, and end that lineage. How would the cost of providing such
substances compare with the cost of DDT and other sprays? Seems killing
the larvae is the key as they never get into the air to bite and breed.

There must be a practical way to provide similar product (grains instead
of dunks?) and spread/apply it. There is no harm to any creature or plant
other than mosquito larvae.

This is a sincere question. Why isn't that practice being used?

Glenna



I don't know; I suspect it's because of the difficulty in finding all
the little pockets of water where mosquitoes can breed.

The way spraying the houses works is the mosquito likes to rest a bit
after feeding. So by spraying the inside walls of the houses/huts, the
anopheles (sp?) mosquito that has just bitten an already infected person
dies before it gets a chance to bite somebody else. So I suppose they
are trying to eradicate the plasmodia parasite itself moreso than just
the vector that spreads it.

The lesson of DDT use in the USA is that indescrimate overuse of DDT
(and probably any pesticide) is bad for the enviroment; it accumulates
and concentrates in the food chain. And because of this amplification
effect, we need to be careful even with low pesticide usage rates. But
people like to oversimplify things and they like to blame inanimate
objects as being inherently good or evil.

Interesting factoid: people who are carriers of sickle-cell anemia have
a natural resistance to acute malaria.

Best regards,
Bob