Ddt Argumentative Essay

One of the most prevalent and controversial insecticides used in America was DDT, commonly used in America’s heartland until it was banned in the 1970s. It was used to decrease the widespread infection from malaria, typhus, and other insect-borne human disease but eventually caused worry and panic among American citizens with the publishing of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (EPA). On one hand, DDT causes a variety of environmental problems like the weakening of bird eggshells, a long appearance in soil, and can seep into groundwater, affecting both humans, animals, and ecosystems alike. On the other hand, it is effective in killing of the deadly diseases that still kill hundreds in Third-World countries today. I believe that, regardless of the negative effects of DDT, it should be used to actively combat the life-threatening diseases that plague some countries today. However, it
DDT tends to have a half-life of 75 years, making it extremely stable in the ground or water it penetrates (prosandcons). As it accumulates in the environment, it continues to build up in animals and may make its way up and into the food chain, poisoning every level and eventually making its way to humans (Kenney). Because of its “persistence and solubility in fats”, it is very hard to get rid of in a biotic sense (“Using DDT”). It had appeared in birds in the form of effecting the eggshells, making then thinner and ultimately unable to sustain the helpless chick inside. In humans, it was found to have negative effects on human reproductive organs, like breastfeeding, early miscarriages, and lower semen quality. Another worrying factor was its ability to become immune to, like most chemicals and immunizations; resistance to DDT was first recognized in Italy, when house flies were not dying. Overall, it was easy to use but hard to get rid of once established in the biotic and abiotic factors of an