It turns out, DDT is not as harmful to the environment as Carson claimed it was in her book. According to tests conducted by Dr. Philip Butler, the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Sabine Island Research Laboratory, "92 percent of DDT and its metabolites disappear from the environment after 38 days". Testing has also concluded that "DDT is so safe that no symptoms have been observed among the 130,000 spraymen or the 535 million inhabitants of sprayed houses [over the past 29 years of its existence]. No toxicity was observed in the wildlife of the countries participating in the malaria campaign."
The only reason that so many lives are being lost to these infectious diseases today is because of Carson and her predictions that DDT would eventually wipe out the human race through causing cancer in the population. Carson came to this conclusion by arguing that the rise in cancer rates from 1940-1960 was proof that DDT was the cause because spraying began in 1940 and continued. However, when looking at the Center for Disease Control data from the 1900-1960,her theory is way off the mark because cancer rates started to skyrocket in direct correlation to a surge of tobacco use. Yet, despite Carson's research inconsistencies and dearth of solid scientific evidence, DDT was eventually banned in the U.S.
If Carson's modern day crusaders are really concerned about saving lives and helping developing countries, then must allow DDT to be used without repercussions.
