http://www.jpands.org/vol9no3/edwards.pdf
DDT: A Case Study in Scientific Fraud
J. Gordon Edwards, Ph.D.
Value of Pesticides to Humanity
ABSTRACT
The chemical compound that has saved more human lives than
any other in history, DDT, was banned by order of one man, the
head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Public
pressure was generated by one popular book and sustained by
faulty or fraudulent research. Widely believed claims of
carcinogenicity, toxicity to birds, anti-androgenic properties, and
prolonged environmental persistence are false or grossly
exaggerated. The worldwide effect of the U.S. ban has been
millions of preventable deaths.
Fraud in science is a major problem.A2002 report published by
theAmerican Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS)
on “fraud in science in Germany” stated that International
Scientific Misconduct Rules should “punish deliberate or grossly
negligent falsification or fabrication of data,” and that “failure to
cooperate with investigations will be considered an admission of
guilt.” Ombudsmen will be appointed “to probe for examples of
misconduct, including falsification, fabrications, selective use of
data, and manipulation of graphs and figures.” Upon reading this
article, I prepared a 34-page list of frauds published in U.S.
scientific journals and sent it to the editor of . Although he
responded courteously, he evidently did not wish to publicize this.
The most common examples of fraud in the United States
appear to be environmental, including acid rain, ozone holes,
carbon dioxide, ultraviolet radiation, global cooling, global
warming, endangered species, and pesticides. This article will
primarily concern the last, especially DDT.
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was first produced in
1874 by German chemist Othmar Zeidler, but he did not suggest
any actual use for it. Sixty years later, Paul Müller duplicated the
procedure and discovered the chemical’s insecticidal potential. For
this, he received the Nobel Prize in 1948.
DDT has been effective in controlling mankind’s worst insect
pests, including lice, fleas, and mosquitoes. This was of enormous
importance for human health because at least 80 percent of human
infectious disease worldwide is arthropod borne. Hundreds of
millions have died from malaria, yellow fever, typhus, dengue,
plague, encephalitis, leishmaniasis, filariasis, and many other
diseases. In the 14th century bubonic plague (transmitted by fleas)
1 2 Science killed a fourth of the people in Europe and two-thirds of those in the
British Isles. Yellow fever killed millions before it was found to be
transmitted by mosquitoes. It infected British troops in the
Louisiana Territory in 1741, killing 20,000 of the 27,000 soldiers.
In 1802, French troops arrived there but departed after 29,000 of the
33,000 soldiers died of yellow fever. More than 100 epidemics of
typhus ravaged civilizations in Europe and Asia, with mortality
rates as high as 70 percent. But by far the greatest killer has been
malaria, transmitted by mosquitoes.
In 1945 the goal of eradicating this scourge appeared to be
achievable, thanks to DDT. By 1959, the U.S., Europe, portions of
the Soviet Union, Chile, and several Caribbean islands were nearly
malaria free. In 1970 the National Academy of Sciences stated:
“To only a few chemicals does man owe as great a debt as to DDT.
In little more than two decades DDT has prevented 500 million
human deaths due to malaria that would have otherwise have been
inevitable.”
Today, however, after the U.S. ban on DDT, there is a global
malaria burden of 300 to 500 million cases and 1 to 2.5 million
deaths annually, mostly among young children. Malaria kills an
African child every 30 seconds.
Many South American countries suffered more than 90 percent
increases in malaria rates after halting DDT use, but Ecuador used
DDT again and enjoyed a 61 percent in malaria.
On the first page of the book widely credited with launching the
environmental movement as well as bringing about the ban on
DDT, Rachel Carson wrote: “Dedicated to Dr. Albert Schweitzer,
who said ‘Man has lost the capacity to foresee and forestall. He will
end by destroying the earth’.” She surely knew that he was
referring to atomic warfare, but she implied that he meant there
were deadly hazards from chemicals such as DDT. Because I had
already found a great many untruths in her book, I obtained a copy
of Dr. Schweitzer’s autobiography, to see whether he even
mentioned DDT. He wrote: “How much labor and waste of time
these wicked insects do cause, but a ray of hope, in the use of DDT,
is now held out to us.”
Many allegations have been made about the harmful effects of
pesticides in general, and DDT in particular, on human health. Even
statements about the amount actually ingested by human beings
have been dramatically false.
Aedes Anopheles reduction
3 4 5 ,6 7 8 9 1 0 Rachel Carson’s Effects of Pesticides on Human Beings Silent Spring
DDT: A Case Study in Scientific Fraud
Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 9 Number 3 Fall 2004
DDT: A Case Study in Scientific Fraud
J. Gordon Edwards, Ph.D.
Value of Pesticides to Humanity
ABSTRACT
The chemical compound that has saved more human lives than
any other in history, DDT, was banned by order of one man, the
head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Public
pressure was generated by one popular book and sustained by
faulty or fraudulent research. Widely believed claims of
carcinogenicity, toxicity to birds, anti-androgenic properties, and
prolonged environmental persistence are false or grossly
exaggerated. The worldwide effect of the U.S. ban has been
millions of preventable deaths.
Fraud in science is a major problem.A2002 report published by
theAmerican Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS)
on “fraud in science in Germany” stated that International
Scientific Misconduct Rules should “punish deliberate or grossly
negligent falsification or fabrication of data,” and that “failure to
cooperate with investigations will be considered an admission of
guilt.” Ombudsmen will be appointed “to probe for examples of
misconduct, including falsification, fabrications, selective use of
data, and manipulation of graphs and figures.” Upon reading this
article, I prepared a 34-page list of frauds published in U.S.
scientific journals and sent it to the editor of . Although he
responded courteously, he evidently did not wish to publicize this.
The most common examples of fraud in the United States
appear to be environmental, including acid rain, ozone holes,
carbon dioxide, ultraviolet radiation, global cooling, global
warming, endangered species, and pesticides. This article will
primarily concern the last, especially DDT.
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was first produced in
1874 by German chemist Othmar Zeidler, but he did not suggest
any actual use for it. Sixty years later, Paul Müller duplicated the
procedure and discovered the chemical’s insecticidal potential. For
this, he received the Nobel Prize in 1948.
DDT has been effective in controlling mankind’s worst insect
pests, including lice, fleas, and mosquitoes. This was of enormous
importance for human health because at least 80 percent of human
infectious disease worldwide is arthropod borne. Hundreds of
millions have died from malaria, yellow fever, typhus, dengue,
plague, encephalitis, leishmaniasis, filariasis, and many other
diseases. In the 14th century bubonic plague (transmitted by fleas)
1 2 Science killed a fourth of the people in Europe and two-thirds of those in the
British Isles. Yellow fever killed millions before it was found to be
transmitted by mosquitoes. It infected British troops in the
Louisiana Territory in 1741, killing 20,000 of the 27,000 soldiers.
In 1802, French troops arrived there but departed after 29,000 of the
33,000 soldiers died of yellow fever. More than 100 epidemics of
typhus ravaged civilizations in Europe and Asia, with mortality
rates as high as 70 percent. But by far the greatest killer has been
malaria, transmitted by mosquitoes.
In 1945 the goal of eradicating this scourge appeared to be
achievable, thanks to DDT. By 1959, the U.S., Europe, portions of
the Soviet Union, Chile, and several Caribbean islands were nearly
malaria free. In 1970 the National Academy of Sciences stated:
“To only a few chemicals does man owe as great a debt as to DDT.
In little more than two decades DDT has prevented 500 million
human deaths due to malaria that would have otherwise have been
inevitable.”
Today, however, after the U.S. ban on DDT, there is a global
malaria burden of 300 to 500 million cases and 1 to 2.5 million
deaths annually, mostly among young children. Malaria kills an
African child every 30 seconds.
Many South American countries suffered more than 90 percent
increases in malaria rates after halting DDT use, but Ecuador used
DDT again and enjoyed a 61 percent in malaria.
On the first page of the book widely credited with launching the
environmental movement as well as bringing about the ban on
DDT, Rachel Carson wrote: “Dedicated to Dr. Albert Schweitzer,
who said ‘Man has lost the capacity to foresee and forestall. He will
end by destroying the earth’.” She surely knew that he was
referring to atomic warfare, but she implied that he meant there
were deadly hazards from chemicals such as DDT. Because I had
already found a great many untruths in her book, I obtained a copy
of Dr. Schweitzer’s autobiography, to see whether he even
mentioned DDT. He wrote: “How much labor and waste of time
these wicked insects do cause, but a ray of hope, in the use of DDT,
is now held out to us.”
Many allegations have been made about the harmful effects of
pesticides in general, and DDT in particular, on human health. Even
statements about the amount actually ingested by human beings
have been dramatically false.
Aedes Anopheles reduction
3 4 5 ,6 7 8 9 1 0 Rachel Carson’s Effects of Pesticides on Human Beings Silent Spring
DDT: A Case Study in Scientific Fraud
Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 9 Number 3 Fall 2004
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