North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dan Durica" <dandurica@hotmail.com>]

Apparently the World Health Organization (WHO) condones the use of DDT to control malaria over other pesticides, but its use and production in the world is strictly controlled by an international convention (link below).  It is recognized as being persistent and harmful to the environment and the major thing that prevents the use of alternatives are financial, technical, and administrative mechanisms for its phase out.  Poverty and disparity seem to be the issues that need to be addressed to make real change.   I don't know if DDT is used for anything in the world but control of malaria, except for the few people that have mentioned they are still using it from a stash.

I'm not sure why people would see the need to legalize its use here in the US or in any countries where malaria is not a problem. I once worked in mosquito control in a county in OH and we used mineral oil and BT (Bacillis thurengiensis)most of the time, occasionally a legal pesticide and that was sufficient.  Encephalitis is very rare as is West Nile.  I don't think the use of DDT here would be worth the costs to the environment or make a difference in the number of cases of these two diseases. 

http://www.emro.who.int/rbm/pdf/PositionPaper.pdf

Dan Durica
Zone 4/5
Madison WI

>From: "Bruce Wittchen" <herenorthere@lycos.com>

>Reply-To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>

>To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

>Subject: Re: [NAFEX] DDT

>Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:10:07 -0500

>

>Here's a discussion of the effect pesticide resistance on the control of malaria - http://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/cgi-bin/blog/2005/02/11.  Whether the points it makes are properly substantiated or not, I can't say.

>

>But each of us dealing with fruit pest management issues certainly has seen big variations of pest populations and and damage from one year to the next and from one location to another.  Similarly, someone's selective comparison of one year's malaria data to another year's tells us nothing.

>

>Bruce Wittchen

>Zone 6, 1/2 mile outside Hartford, CT

>

>

>--

>_______________________________________________

>NEW! Lycos Dating Search. The only place to search multiple dating sites at once.

>http://datingsearch.lycos.com

>

>_______________________________________________

>nafex mailing list

>nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

>

>**YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**

>All other messages are discarded.

>No exceptions.

>----

>To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):

>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

>

>File attachments are NOT stripped by this list

>TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!

>Please do not send binary files.

>Use plain text ONLY in emails!

>

>Message archives are here:

>https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex

>

>NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/