[tn-bird] Re: DDT NOT BAD, ENVIRONMENTALISTS BAD
- From: "Rack Cross" <frogfarm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 01:14:05 -0400
TN Birders
This subject has caught my intrest before. Along side my copy "Silent =
Spring" by Rachel Carson I find a copy of "Trashing the Planet" by Dixy =
Lee Ray. Ms. Carson's idea's have echoed through time and even here we =
read them again. A less know side of the coin, so to speak, is shown by =
Dr. Ray as she reports increases in bird populations throughout the DDT =
years as per annual counts by the Audubon Society at Christmastime and =
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary annual hawk counts. She contends DDT's abuse not =
use is/was harmful. Further, the quote "..more than 93% of DDT is broken =
down in 38 days, but one part per trillion can be detected in inshore =
waters." is found in the same title.
"Til we bird again
Rack Cross
Blountville, TN
Sullivan County =20
-----Original Message-----
From: James Brooks <comeback@xxxxxxxx>
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 3:16 PM
Subject: [tn-bird] Re: DDT NOT BAD, ENVIRONMENTALISTS BAD
Public health officials in places like Amazonian Brazil (I've=20
interviewed one from Manaus) say DDT is the pesticide of choice and is=20
used there for malaria control.
The reason it kills birds is that it does not break down and is thus=20
passed on from insects to fish to birds that eat fish, like bald eagles. =
The immediate effect on them is egg shell thinning, so the egg breaks=20
while being incubated by the weight of the mother.
They use it in the rain forest for the same reason: it does not break=20
down in an environment where it rains every day. Of course it does get=20
washed downstream. The public health people have identified malaria as=20
the number one health hazard and are willing to go to extreme risks to=20
fight it.
In the tropics there are bromeliades that collect rain water and breed=20
mosquitoes, sometimes high in the trees. No amount of spraying DDT in=20
the backwaters of the Amazon will ever eradicate malaria, and 40 years=20
of it just proves that. Deeper in the jungle, indiginous people run=20
naked and are not affected by malaria until white man's civilization is=20
intruded upon them. We might do better to ask why this is so.
This business of ecology is complex and requires us to think things=20
through rather than reaching for the nearest band-aid in the form of a=20
poison spray or powder. What are the consequences of our actions? Is a=20
crises, or something perceived as a crises going to spur us to take=20
actions sensible people would not normally take?
Has anyone thought about how West Nile virus came into this country in=20
the first place? It appears to be a more serious problem for bird=20
populations than for humans, where it seems to mostly affect people in=20
my age class who have already lived a lifetime or so. They have a=20
vaccine for horses and probably will be testing a version for humans=20
next year. In our part of the country it will pass for now with first=20
frost.
Think it through. Does it make sense to come up with an old means of=20
destroying mosquitoes when there are newer, safer, and probably more=20
effective larvacides on the market? Have you cleaned out your gutters=20
yet? Does it make sense to use something that kills large birds in order =
to protect them from a disease that is mostly killing large birds?
James Brooks
Jonesborough, TN
Bill Darnell wrote:
>Aren't the only countries in the world with Malaria still using DDT? =
This
>is just a BS argument! Do we even have any cases of Malaria in the US? =
DDT
>is still the #1 pesticide in countries where Malaria is still rampant!
>
>But, on the other hand, I don't put a lot of stock in Rachel Carson =
either.
>Bill Darnell
>Savannah, TN
>
>
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Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958
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