greens greatest terrorist threat to mankind, page-30

bacci,

There's what we know and what we think we know.

Your posturing on DDT fits into the second category.

It will surprise many to learn that DDT is still used for "vector control", the control of disease spreading mosquitoes.

Heres the relevant passage from wikipedia.

"Vector control use has not been banned, but it has been largely replaced by less persistent alternative insecticides.

"The Stockholm Convention, which took effect in 2004, outlawed several persistent organic pollutants, and restricted DDT use to vector control. The Convention has been ratified by more than 170 countries and is endorsed by most environmental groups. Recognizing that total elimination in many malaria-prone countries is currently unfeasible because there are few affordable or effective alternatives, public health use is exempt from the ban pending acceptable alternatives. Malaria Foundation International states, "The outcome of the treaty is arguably better than the status quo going into the negotiations...For the first time, there is now an insecticide which is restricted to vector control only, meaning that the selection of resistant mosquitoes will be slower than before."[28]
Despite the worldwide ban, agricultural use continues in India[29] North Korea, and possibly elsewhere.[13]
Today, about 3-4,000 tonnes each year are produced for vector control.[12] DDT is applied to the inside walls of homes to kill or repel mosquitoes. This intervention, called indoor residual spraying (IRS), greatly reduces environmental damage. It also reduces the incidence of DDT resistance.[30] For comparison, treating 40 hectares (99 acres) of cotton during a typical U.S. growing season requires the same amount of chemical as roughly 1,700 homes.[31]"