2007-12-08 08:03:05 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
See link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT
2007-12-08 08:30:14 · answer #1 · answered by WarLabRat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It wasn't just eagles as ecolink suggested. DDT is almost indestructible and when a mosquito ingests it and then is eaten by anything, bird, frog, whatever, the eater also ingests the DDT. And it has a cumulative effect because it stays in the system and is added to each time something with DDT is eaten.
It is not banned everywhere. In fact, it is being used in many places in Africa to kill malaria carrying mosquitoes as the lesser of two evils (malaria vs death by DDT).
2007-12-08 16:23:38 · answer #2 · answered by Joan H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
DDT was found to be causing a decline in the bald eagle population. DDT accumulated through the food chain, increasing in concentration with every step. DDT caused the eagles' eggshells to be brittle and to break easily, so not as many eagle chicks were being born. Rachel Carson sounded the alarm on DDT and other chemicals in her famous book named "Silent Spring".
2007-12-08 16:10:02 · answer #3 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋