Ddt Argumentative Essay

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, better known as DDT is a notorious organochlorine pesticide that is created by the reaction of chloral with chlorobenzene in combination with sulfuric acid(Britannica p.1). It was first used as an insecticide in 1939 by Hermann Muller in Switzerland. DDT works as an insecticideby acting on the nervous system to generate the same neural impulse over and over causing body tremors and eventually death. DDT is an extremely stable chemical compound containing C14H9Cl5 which leads to some significant resistance issues when used as a pesticide. The most problematic property of DDT is its high fat solubility and extremely low water solubility meaning that it has a tendency to stick around in the environment for longer than we want since it is readily taken up in the bodies of nearby mammals.

In 1975, seemingly absurd predictions made in Rachel’s Carlson Silent Spring (1962) on human health and ecosystem hazards caused by DDT materialized in our James River, Virginia. Irresponsible chemical disposure from Life Science Products made workers ill from neurotoxin exposure, suffering from symptoms of nosebleeds, headaches, chest pains, and dizziness from neurotoxin exposure (Goldfarb, William). Ecosystem was destroyed animals leaving the area with 200,000 pounds of Kepone found on almost all land surfaces, and parts of the river (Wilson, Sarah).

2. Research in the early 1960s proved that high levels of DDT found in predatory birds were the cause of the decrease in their populations. When the predatory birds came in contact with DDT, their reproduction was directly affected. As a result of DDT's presence in the predatory bird's body, the eggshells of these birds started to become slender. These eggshells become so thin that whenever the mother bird would lie on the egg waiting for it to hatch, the eggs would break. Thus, the predatory bird population had no means of increasing, since their reproduction was not successful. Biological magnification had a large role to play in the decrease of the predatory bird population. Spraying of DDT on vegetation led to contamination of the prey populations such as fish. These prey started building large concentrations of DDT within their bodies. As a result, the predatory birds also got contaminated, since they preyed upon contaminated animals.

”On those visits, I feel not only the spirit of the local people…and the seasonal change.”(345).Nowadays seasonal variation in industrial societies is minimized by importing many products that mature in specific seasons from different parts of the world. Technologies however, are impacting on our lives. “DDT would exert incredible selective pressure for mutations that would confer resistance” (347), it killed malaria-carrying mosquitoes but in few years large numbers of mosquitoes will return. It also has ecological damage the compound is ingested by many organisms, become concentrated up the food chain in a process called biomagnification. It causes heavy bird mortality.

DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons are very fat soluble so when these chemicals are sprayed on plants and these plants get eaten by animal the chlorinated hydrocarbon gets in the animal's fat. Then that animal get eaten by another animal and now that has the chlorinated

DDT use can lead to horrible effects in humans and we can not become immune to these horrible unlike the flies that we are trying to kill. We think we have all this superiority over little insects when in fact they have the hand over us. Not because they are more intelligent than us but because we are too intelligent for ourselves. Conniff’s essay shows how our own superiority can lead to our demise.

According to Maine’s Claim to Fame, “In 1958, Rachel received a letter from friends Smart and Olga Huckins of Duxbury, Massachusetts, whose small nature sanctuary had been devastated by air spraying of DDT, virtually wiping out all birds and beneficial insect life. Shouldn’t something be done about it?

In the book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s main concern is the widespread use of synthetic pesticides and their impact on the environment. Carson concentrates on a commonly used pesticide in the 1950s called DDT. She opposes the indiscriminate spraying of DDT because it has profound consequences on the environment, humans and animals. Carson collected information about how the DDT can cause cancer in humans, harm animals such as birds and remained in the environment for long periods of time. Subsequently, the chemicals in the pesticides are extremely harmful so she tries to raise awareness and convince others that there are better alternatives.

Effects on the local Great Lake biosphere have accumulations of toxins within the food chain. For instance, fish. Consuming a large amount of fish exposed to these toxic chemicals can expose you to DDT, dioxin, and PCVs, these chemicals are known for being carcinogenic, and can cause neurological disorders and a weakened immune system. Being exposed to the Water by swimming can also cause immune problems if swallowed. These chemicals also are known for causing skin cancer if exposed to the external body.

While there are studies that indicate that DDT can cause health problems such as reduced male fertility, genital birth defects, breast cancer, diabetes, and endocrine disorders (World Wildlife Fund, 1999), many of these studies are weakened by factors such as their age or their biases, due to funding from pro-ban organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the World Wildlife Fund, combined with the lack of conclusive support from more neutral research. Furthermore, one particular paper mentions that methodological errors undermine many studies on the health impacts of DDT (Beard, 2006), and asserts that “it is still too early” to assess DDT’s role in a number of diseases. Chris Curtis, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also stated that there is “no convincing evidence that DDT … has caused any harm to humans” (Cone, 2009).

Cooks explores the many ways underage boys were able to join the army, some as young as fourteen. Many when enlisting lied about their age and since a birth certificate was not necessary for recruitment age restrictions placed by the government were hard to enforce. Some boys were honest about their age and consequently were told to “run around the block, think over their age and come back again” (p. 189) resulting in the creation of a more appropriate age. If a young man was turned away at recruitment, they simply had to walk to the next town until they were accepted or show up at the same recruitment facility but a different day. If a boy was sent back from the war after other discovered their actual age, sometimes through letters from home,

It would appear that DDT would be the obvious choice to prevent cases of malaria in developing nations and all over the world. However, DDT is not without its potential hazards. DDT was used as a pesticide in the United States until it was banned in 1972. First employed as an insecticide in 1939, the white powder would kill massive amounts of mosquito larvae. Paul Müller actually won the Nobel Prize for first using the chemical on insects. The pesticide was used throughout the United States to combat more kinds of insect-pests such as gypsy moths. It was not

Throughout his essay, Suzuki supports his arguments with specific examples. To justify his reasoning, the author uses the case of DDT, otherwise known as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. This chemical compound is used as an insecticide to eliminate the population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, which it did effectively, and saved millions of lives. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, complications arose, which led to an increase in chemicals and caused a domino effect of

Skeleton implies that the food that we make contribute to disease and sickness which leads to death. Vast majority of the food on the table were crops and the abbreviation “DDT” was also seen in the middle between two chandeliers. “DDT” was quite shocking to me, when I saw it on a 1995 painting. Evidence suggest that dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) has been banned in 1972 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Who would have thought 20 years later, Hollis Sigler still included this irrelevant information in her painting? No doubt that some parts of the world are currently using DDT as insecticide to control disease like Malaria. But if this painting were to be exhibit in America, what kind of activism value does it holds? Well, she tried her best to make her point on unsafe food which is still prevalent in the world today, as the old saying goes “We are what we eat”. However, according to Cornell University, DDT and its intermediate end products does not show carcinogenic properties in human. Therefore, in my view, Hollis Sigler almost make us believe in

The common routes of exposure to DDT, and DDE occurs mostly from eating foods containing small amounts of these compounds, particularly meat, fish and poultry. Exposure may also occur with contact with DDT residues in airborne dust. (Fisher et al, 2003).