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 DDT Sierra Club's Position on the World Heath Organization's Promotion of Indoor Use of DDT to Control Malaria On September 15, 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it was giving DDT "a clean bill of health" for use in combatting malaria in Africa. The Sierra Club strongly disagrees with the WHO's denial of the potential health and environmental risks of using DDT. Sierra Club is deeply concerned that WHO's new position statement on "indoor residual spraying" increases the potential for widespread misuse and accidents due to the continued manufacture, storage and applications of DDT. DDT and its breakdown chemicals are synthetic, persistent global pollutants that have been found in residents of remote areas where DDT has never been used, including Inuit and other Arctic peoples. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies DDT as a possible human carcinogen. The EPA has determined that DDT, DDE, and DDD are probable human carcinogens. Studies have linked widespread reproductive disorders in animals to DDT exposure - including reproductive failure in the American Bald Eagle. Additionally, adverse health effects including reproductive disorders and learning disabilities have been identified in people exposed to DDT. Malaria kills millions of people in Africa every year. Under closely controlled conditions and as part of a broader, integrated response, Sierra Club agrees that DDT should only be used in accordance with limiting provisions agreed to by more than 150 nations in the Stockholm Convention. Further, many effective non-toxic and less toxic alternatives are available and affordable, such as cleaning mosquito breeding areas, use of treated nets and early malaria detection and treatment programs. Sierra Club believes that DDT should be considered as the option of last resort only, when all feasible non-toxic and less toxic alternatives have been tried and proven ineffective. Sierra Club encourages governments and the WHO to give priority to increasing the informed use and accelerated development of such non-toxic and less toxic alternatives. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use |
