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DDT In South Africa

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The Controversial Use of DDT in South Africa

1. Background information 1.1 What is malaria and how is it spread Malaria is a disease carried and spread by a female mosquito, Anopheles, and it is caused by a Plasmodium parasite, which is also carried by the Anopheles mosquito. These mosquitoes are mostly active and common between dusk and dawn. Once the mosquito bites a person, he/she becomes infected and the parasite travels through the bloodstream to get to the liver, where it attacks the red blood cells and it multiplies. At regular intervals of 48-72 hours, the parasite blasts in the red blood cells and new parasites are released. Malaria is not commonly spread directly among people but it can be spread when a mosquito bites an infected …show more content…

It was and still is commonly used in agriculture for insect control, eradication of malaria, typhus and body lice (Dash, 2007). The use of DDT in South Africa and in other countries across the world is still an issue because of the environmental concerns on its toxicity and its threat to human health as it has been proven to attack the nervous system (Dalvie et al, 2003). As a result of these concerns, the use of DDT was banned in many countries including South Africa. After sometime DDT was then used again in South Africa but only for malaria eradication and not for agriculture (Dash, 2007). This essay aims to explore the eco-centric views on why the use of DDT in South Africa should be discontinued and the techno-centric views on why it should be …show more content…

It is shows that using DDT can have bad effects on the environment and human health, but the fact that DDT is remains the best known pesticide to eradicate malaria should not be ignored (Roberts et al,2000). I personally believe that human health is of the out-most importance and should be treated as such. It should be protected in all ways possible. With that being said, I believe that countries should continue using DDT as a malaria control and save lives of people that are exposed to the disease, but should discontinue its use in agriculture. The use of DDT should continue until another option, which is same or more effective than DDT but has lesser environmental concerns is

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Rachel Carson was a courageous woman who in the early 1960s called attention to the harms of indiscriminate pesticide use. In Silent Spring, a beautiful book about a dreadful topic, she explained how pesticides were accumulating in the food chain, damaging the natural environment, and threatening even the symbol of American freedom, the bald eagle. In spite of industry attempts to paint her as a hysterical female, her work was affirmed by the President’s Science Advisory Committee and in 1972 the EPA concluded that the scientific evidence was sufficient to warrant the banning of the pesticide DDT in America. In 2007, the Internet was flooded with the assertion that Carson was a mass murderer, worse than Hitler because Silent Spring led to the banning of DDT, without which millions of Africans died of malaria.

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