Thirty years ago, on 14 June 1972, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drastically restricted the production and use of DDT. The American Council on Science and Health points out that in the two decades before it was restricted, this “miracle pesticide” saved as many as 100 million lives in Africa, Asia and South America by repelling mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects.
Critics warn that if it is passed, the legislation would amount to a virtual death sentence for tens of millions more people in poor countries.
Source: Editorial, The Life and Death of DDT, Wall Street Journal, June 14, 2002.
For text (WSJ subscribers) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB102401685060876920,00.htm
For more on Pesticides http://www.ncpa.org/iss/env
FMF Policy Bulletin\18 June 2002
