Why is ddt bad for humans

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The U. Department of Agriculture, the federal agency with responsibility for regulating pesticides before the formation of the U. Environmental Protection Agency in , began regulatory actions in the late s and s to prohibit many of DDT's uses because of mounting evidence of the pesticide's declining benefits and environmental and toxicological effects.

The publication in of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring stimulated widespread public concern over the dangers of improper pesticide use and the need for better pesticide controls.

In , EPA issued a cancellation order for DDT based on its adverse environmental effects, such as those to wildlife, as well as its potential human health risks. Since then, studies have continued, and a relationship between DDT exposure and reproductive effects in humans is suspected, based on studies in animals.

In addition, some animals exposed to DDT in studies developed liver tumors. A high blood DDE concentration was more strongly linked to prematurity than maternal smoking. Premature babies account for a large proportion of infant deaths.

If high DDT exposure really does cause prematurity, the insecticide could have accounted for 15 per cent of infant deaths in the US in the s, Longnecker estimates. DDT has been proven to have adverse effects on bird reproduction, in particular.

Environmental groups have long campaigned for an international ban. DDT is a possible human carcinogen according to U. Finding measurable amounts of DDT and DDE in serum does not imply that the levels of these chemicals cause an adverse health effect.

These reference values can determine whether higher levels of DDT and DDE exposure in people are present than in the general population. Biomonitoring data also help scientists plan and conduct research on exposure and health effects.

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