Effects Of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane

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.

For example, Iodine 131 causes thyroid cancer. It is a substance that dissolves into liquid such as water and milk. Other chemicals such as Strontium-90 and Cesium 147 as well get into water, milk, soil, food and vegetables that we eat and cause bone, skin cancer and leukemia. Chemicals like Strontium-90 and Cesium-147 remain for up to 200 to 300 years in the atmosphere (CancerSource.)

DDT has been used since WW2 as an insecticide to control the outbreak of malaria and typhus among troops and civilians. This is because malaria is spread by mosquitos and DDT was considered to be a powerful in eliminating these populations, thus decreasing the infection rate for malaria. Since it was first discovered as an insecticide, worldwide it was used in very large amounts because nobody knew any better and it was considered to be revolutionary. It wasn’t until 1962, when biologist Rachel Carson first outlined the potential harm DDT has on the environment, believing it caused cancer in humans and harmed bird wildlife. This led to the United Stated ban of DDT use in 1972, and later, a worldwide ban under the Stockholm

One reason why DDT should not be used is because of its harmful effects on humans. First, research had shown that the consumption of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) had caused many people to contract many dangerous diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, kidney and ovarian diseases. Studies had also linked the use of DDT to be a carcinogenic, causing breast cancer in women. A study of 9,300

In the online article, “How does Pollution Affect Humans” by The World Counts, “Breathing polluted air puts you at a higher risk for asthma and other respiratory diseases. When exposed to ground ozone for 6 to 7 hours, scientific evidence shows that healthy people’s lungs function decreased and they suffered from respiratory inflammation” (The World Counts par. 4 ). THose are just some of the health problems that pollution causes This information matters to me because it shows that bottled water not only affects the Earth by causing pollution, but that pollution also causes health problems. Not only does it affect the Earth by causing pollution, but bottled water can directly affect you. According to the online article “Bottled Water vs. Tap Water: Rethink What You Drink” by Priscilla Torres, “The EPA regulates tap water, while the FDA oversees bottled. Yet FDA oversight doesn’t apply to water packaged and sold within the same state, leaving some 60 to 70 percent of bottled water, including the contents of watercooler jugs, free of FDA regulation” (Torres pg. 2 par.5). This matters to me because it means if every student in the Natomas district drank from bottled water, some of their water might contain chemicals because it wasn’t checked. Chemicals are definitely a threat because Torres continues to say, “Scientists in Germany found that the longer a bottle of water sits around (in a store, in your home), the more antimony it develops. High concentrations of antimony can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea”(Torres pg. 3 par. 7). This information is important because it shows that just keeping water bottles for a long period of time can cause many health problems. If every student had to drink bottled water, they would constantly be getting sick and spreading their sickness to other students. So, bottled water causes many health problems, through pollution, and because there may be

There is no scientific proof done by researchers to provide any evidence the chemical might do harm, but there isn’t any research that says it does no harm with exposure overtime. The precautionary principle relies on our history with asbestos, PCB, and chlorofluorocarbons destroying the ozone. Therefore, a strength in the precautionary principle is the research it acquires in order to provide enough evidence a chemical like DDT can become more harmful than beneficial. However, the precautionary principle is only based on skepticism and not actual data found from trials in research. The precautionary principle has the capacity to save lives by reducing the human race and planet Earth from being exposed to dangerous chemicals. However, the implications of using the precautionary principle can lead to several deaths to diseases like West Nile Virus and Malaria because of the DDT ban based on skepticism and history

Everyday pesticides are dumped into our environment. Over time most of the pesticides make thier way to a source of water, whether it's groundwater or a body of water. According to Lewis Regenstein author of "America the Poisoned" two thirds of the nation's lakes have serious pollution problems. 80% of 3,700 urban lakes in the United States are destroyed. More than 94 million residents could use these lakes for recreational use or for a source of water (169). Cincinnati's drinking water contains about 700 chemicals. 90% of them did not exist 20 years ago. The main sources of most of these chemical pollutants are municipal sewage, industrial discharges, and runoffs from farming areas. There are also several other chemicals in America's drinking water. Although hazardous, there are approximately 60 chemicals that are mixed into water in the process of treating it. Unlike rivers or lakes, underground supplies are not processed at treatment plants before being used by humans. "More than one hundred million of our citizens depend in a whole or in part on underground as sources of drinking water (Beck qtd. in Regenstein 172). Once groundwater becomes contaminated, there is usually no way to clean it.

In study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 1999, it revealed that twenty-two percent of the one-thousand water bottles being tested contained an alarming amount of chemicals that surpassed the health limit in one or more states. In addition, out of one-hundred and three brands that were tested, at least eighteen of them were found to have had contained microbiological contaminants, once again exceeding the health limits (Hyder). Although the study is a bit older, the problem of finding chemicals in bottled water has continued. Since the year 2000, there have been nine outbreaks due to contamination in bottled water (Commercially Bottled Water). In 2004, Coca-Cola withdrew its own water bottle brand because of concerns about a possible carcinogen in the water (Ward, Owen, Ryan et al). Carcinogens are “substances and exposures that can lead to cancer”, and the fact that it was a concern in a popular water bottle brand could result in dangerous outcomes (Known and Probable…).

It is a wonderful thing that we just turn the tap on and we get an interrupted supply of clean water. Getting clean water is a rarity in many parts of the world. In many countries, the water which is supplied is not all that clean.

Higher concentration of chlorinated water was found can cause miscarriage in pregnant women due to the formation of cancer-causing byproducts which is trihalomethanes such as carcinogenic chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. The formation of trihalomethanes is due to the reaction between free chlorine and the organic matter which originally present in the water. This statement was prove in one study with 5,000 pregnant women in the Fontana, Walnut Creek and Santa Clara areas of California as the samples and found that pregnant women who drank more than five glasses a day of tap water containing over 75 parts per billion of THMs had a 9.5% risk of spontaneous abortion such as miscarriage if compared 5.7% risk found in those women who are less

In different areas of the world it is found that the presence of arsenic, lead, and cadmium is hazardous to the health of the general population. In Burkina Faso high concentrations of arsenic dominated the groundwaters (BGS). A similar case occurred within California with the existence of lead and cadmium. Similar to Arsenic in the groundworks of Burkina Faso, there was a significantly large amount of lead found in the water system in California affecting the nervous system, kidneys of children (Rios, Michael). Cadmium has also been found in California, because the metal is known to cause cancer and developmental harm there are several laws preventing certain amount of cadmium in drinking water (Monserrat, Laurie).

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), is a controversial chemical that has been adopted for use by African Heads of State and Government in attempt to treat victims of the disease malaria. In the past, DDT was widely used during World War II as a means of treatment for malaria among civilians and soldiers; later, farmers started using DDT as an agriculture insecticide. American biologist Rachael Carson wrote about the consequences of using DDT on the environment as well as public health, and her work, The Silent Spring, sparked the environmental movement; not long afterwards, DDT was banned from agricultural use in the United States, but was still commonly used to control malaria.

The laws regulating the tap water is 35 years old and is out of date. 35 years ago the country was a completely different place. The Safe Drinking Water Act only regulates 91 contaminants in the water that we drink, but there are more than 60,000 chemicals within the water that the people drink within the United States of America based on the information taken from the Environmental Protection Agency. According to an analysis taking by government records, both scientist and government have inspected thousands of cancer causing chemicals within the last decade, and the identified chemicals are affiliated with cancer and other harmful diseases within the drinking water. As bad as it sounds, not one of the chemicals has been added to the list of those regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act since 2000. Other studies of shown that some of the law regulated chemicals are not as toxic as previously known. The problem is, that the standards for those toxic chemicals have not been updated since the 1980s and there still some unchanged laws that were passed in 1974. In 2004, more than 62 Million Americans have been exposed to drinking water that was below standard. An observation from the Times says that over nineteen million test results from the District of Columbia and the 45 states that made data available.

Water is a necessity to basically every living being in the world, both human and nonhuman. Without this valuable resource, almost everything would perish in the world. Roughly 1.2 billion people worldwide lack access to potable water. Around 80% of ocean pollution enters our seas from the land. Any human activity can have an effect on the quality of our water environment. “One fifth of the world’s population consumes four-fifths of the world’s resources, leaving four-fifths of the world’s population with only one-fifth of the available resources” (Environmental Justice). Personal care products and pharmaceuticals, such as birth control pills, painkillers and antibiotics, are causing concern on the water quality.

This paper explores three published articles that reflect the findings from studies conducted to examine the relationships between environmental hormone mimics (endocrine disruptors) and their effect on the human body. This paper specifically discusses three key environmental hormone mimics: bisphenol-A, dioxins, and pesticides. Each of the three studies links the chosen environmental hormone mimic to abnormalities caused by exposure to the chemicals. Bisphenol-A is linked directly to altering estrogen levels in women. The consequences are carried onto the child if the carrying mother ingests BPA while pregnant. Dioxins are extremely harmful and cannot be disposed of easily despite the amount of land, money, and clean up efforts that are taken. Pesticides simply from working in fields or by eating fruits and vegetables are very harmful in men. A male’s reproductive system is directly impaired as sperm counts drop dramatically and abnormalities effecting sperm size and shape occur.