In 2001at the Stockholm Convention Center a United Nations treaty was signed by 100 countries to ban the usage of 12 toxic pesticide chemicals including DDT.
Since then Ethiopia, South Africa, India, Mauritius, Mayanmar, Yemen, Uganda, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Eritrea, Gambia, Naminbia and Zambia notified the treaty's secretariat that they are using DDT. Also China reportedly has started to use DDT.
According to World Health Organization, Malaria is one of the world's most deadly diseases. About 880,000 people, mostly children in Sub-Saharan Africa, are killed. DDT has been the most effective assassin of the mosquitoes but it is not always successful. There has been no one vector that can control or kill mosquitoes.
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| Balancing Act |
I believe there is a way we can use DDT and the population will still be safe. The first thing we can do instead of spraying DDT in the houses is we can paint the outside of the houses, including the doors and screens. That way mosquitoes won't be able to enter. In doing this, we will protect the residents and the person who is spraying. By painting, there will not be any loose molecules in the air which will be inhaled. Here's the kicker, painting will cost more than spraying because it will require more materials and more labor. The brush and containers most be disposed of properly. They cannot be washed because they will then contaminate the water supply. Poor nations will not be able to afford painting therefore they use the alternative spraying method. That is why it is called a balancing act.
Reference
By Marla Cone and Environmental Health News.
This article originally ran at EHN, a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.
