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["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

DDT is still used in areas where it is a cost-effective anti-malarial control.  The ban was domestic. 

 

Info on malaria control from Malaria Foundation International: http://www.malaria.org/DDTcosts.html

http://www.malaria.org/

 

This discussion still brought to mind issues of junk science vs. actual science. 

 

One: people don’t generally use science to form belief; rather, people tend to believe what they want to believe.  As the editor of Scientific American points out regarding politicians, they tend to “elevate their gut feelings above the findings of people who devote their lifetimes to a subject.”  We simply disregard fact if it is in opposition to a belief we consider more socially advantageous.

 

Two: We tend to divide things into ‘good’ or ‘bad’, with no reasonable sense of compromise.  Asbestos was good, now it’s bad.  Realistically, the block of asbestos someone saw sitting on a desk would only be harmful if used to hit somebody on the head.  The cited and real danger is breathing in an airborne suspension of fine particles.  For instance, asbestos insulation in situ presents no risk unless it is sawn, shredded, or otherwise ground into fine particles – as happens in asbestos removal.  And now, Vioxx, which was good, is bad.  The rational approach is to let the physician determine the risk vs. benefit of such drugs, rather than the extremes of mass marketing or banning. 

 

Three:  I swear, when I started writing this, that I had a three.  It is my belief, scientific or otherwise, that this problem with short-term recall is directly attributable to a serum caffeine deficiency.  I shall go correct that.  (topic police please note: the coffee bean is a fruit).

 

Stephen Sadler, Ph.D.

USDA 9, AHS heat zone 8,

Sacramento CA - Mediterranean climate

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