DDT pesticide risk and danger

Controlled indoor spraying of the pesticide DDT is poised to make a comeback in countries that have tried and failed to do without it in the battle against malaria. DDT -- short for dichlorodiphenyl-trichloro ethane -- is known to be very effective against malaria and helped rid the United States of the disease in the late 1940s. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Global Malaria Eradication Campaign relied heavily on DDT to control malaria globally. It was used not only in the US but also in Europe, India, Africa and South America, where it dramatically cut malaria rates and saved millions of lives. Beginning in the 1970s however, the US and several European countries banned DDT, fearing it may harm the environment and get into the food chain, leading perhaps to illness. African governments were also pressured to abandon DDT for malaria control and most did. On May 2, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), endorsed indoor spraying of DDT to rid homes of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. "The World Health Organization is set to follow. Controlled spraying a small amount of DDT on the inside walls and eaves of houses where mosquitoes rest -- as opposed to aerial spraying on crops and villages as was done in the past -- can have a big impact in the fight against malaria with a low risk of harmful effects on the environment and on human health. Nature Medicine, August 2006.