2006-09-27 02:20:44 · 3 answers · asked by browny 1 in Environment
US is rich, Africa is poor.
DDT is toxic but cheap so they have to choose between not eating and eating food with DDT on it...
And know that some of this DDT is sold to Africa by...US!
2006-09-27 02:57:20 · answer #1 · answered by Chris 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the US it was discovered that DDT was affecting wild birds by causing their egg shells to be so thin they would break when the adult sat on them.
Go to Silent Spring by Rachel Carson for more info on that.
Meanwhile, Malaria kills more people in Africa that anything else and DDT is the only pesticide that has been found to be effective against the mosquitoe that carries Malaria.
Thus and because there has been no evidence that DDT is directly harmful to humans, it is allowed to be used in Africa.
2006-09-27 13:55:34 · answer #2 · answered by Barbados Chick 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Best guess is that DDT has saved 25 million lives in the third world. We should be very careful when we moralise about the use of pesticides.
2006-09-27 14:58:23 · answer #3 · answered by andyoptic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋