“Lessons from Silent Spring for Controlling Disease”

The end of DDT

DDT is an insecticide utilized in the 2nd world war to combat the many bugs and the mosquitoes who carried malaria. In that time people used it daily. There were different types of formulas and methods that people used to apply it. One of these being a spray can. Despite the fact this insecticide had a very successful start, it’s hard to ignore the internal damage that it does to people. This insecticide was used in many different places especially throughout America in forests, parks, lawns and much more. The damage and poison this can bring can be transferred even through a mothers breast milk to her children.

Rachel Carson, was a woman who wrote a book titled: Silent spring. This book/Article wrote about the contamination and effects on humans and nature of the chemicals and materials present inside DDT and other insecticides. After she published her book she wasn’t believed in at first but after a government research backed her up. People stopped using so much DDT. After a while people started to notice the rising cases of Malaria in many places especially in Africa. People decided to blame her for this for being the catalyst to ban DDT and some people even went as far as calling her a Mass murderer.

The real problem is the mosquitoes. They are pesky creatures who constantly develop and evolve and they’ve become mostly immune to normal methods of taking care of them like DDT. Scientists are trying to use the evolutive of nature against them to learn how to counteract them. They are easily the most dangerous animal on the planet right now and these scientists work everyday to combat their effects and diseases. In time more cures and solutions have been found but the mosquitoes always remain a threat.

https://sistematv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex29rc-sci-silentspringlessons/lessons-from-silent-spring-for-controlling-disease-rachel-carson-american-experience/?student=true

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