Insect Control Quotes
The scientific panel he had appointed to study the issue, did not recommend that DDT be banned. However, powerful environmental groups and lobbyists were able to force the ban politically. When he banned DDT, there were other pesticides available which were not as potentially toxic but were reasonably effective in controlling mosquitoes and hence malaria. However, the other pesticides are much more expensive and third world countries could not afford the alternatives. By the beginning of the 21st century, malaria affected over 100 million people, It is interesting to note that in Colonial America malaria was the largest single cause of premature death in the United States.