Event #3
The talk was about a chemical called DDT, and how we had to stop using it. There was a disease called West Nile Virus that was affecting adults and birds. Insects were transmitting it as well and the authorities had to stop this disease using pest control, and by using chemical pesticides. Helicopters sprayed New York City with this chemical and many locals protested, as the chemicals could be dangerous. The chemical, DDT, didn’t help at all and the disease kept spreading, but the authorities used it again to take away the disease. This was widely unappreciated by the citizens.
DDT was a chemical made in World War 2, and it was used in bombs to kill insects and protect crops. It wasn’t said to be toxic toward humans or animals. It was used as a pesticide by farmers for a long time, or to kill insects in gardens. DDT was resistant to breaking down, and stayed in the soil it was used in. This eventually became hazardous and in about 1980, DDT started accumulating a lot and building up in animals as well as top blooded predators.
Scientists were discovering that DDT was having adverse long term effects in humans, and studies showed that it caused cancer. It was finally banned because of its harmful effects to the environment and to humans. It has still not fully gone away. DDT is used as an example of requiring good regulation and planning against the pandemic or denying vaccination.
I was shocked and surprised by the method the authorities used to spread the chemical, by sprinkling it over NYC. I didn’t know a method such as that could be approved, especially when it is over a city with actual people. I also learned that it was used in bombs to protect humans from harmful pesticides during World War 2, which I found interesting.
