NEW DELHI: Joining growing international criticism of the clean chit given by the World Health Organisation to Dichlorodiphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT), Toxics Link on Tuesday expressed regret over this turnaround by the world health body. It said the pesticide had failed as an effective anti-malaria strategy in India besides creating chemical dependency and causing adverse health and environmental impact.

Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics Link, said: ``Overriding chemical dependency, without managing how DDT is currently used, is the reason we have more malaria. Lack of DDT quality control leading to resistance, unsafe spraying practices, lack of storage, leakage to agriculture, and poor disposal of waste are major unaddressed issues. Besides, any new assessment needs to be made public before WHO pushes DDT at this time, when there is already a persistent organic pollutants (POPs) global agreement to phase it out."

Organic pollutants

DDT and other chlorinated pesticides such as aldrin, endrin, lindane and endosulfan are persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which remain intact and have a tendency to accumulate in fatty tissue.

Toxics Link is a part of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) and is the South Asia Hub for the global network campaigning for elimination of hazards chemicals, including DDT."

DDT harms human health and is not the best way to control malaria," says Henry Diouf of Pesticide Action Network Africa.

In their announcement before hundreds of government officials at the Inter-governmental Forum on Chemical Safety in Budapest, Hungary, Pesticide Action Network International, the International POPs Elimination Network and the International Society of Doctors for the Environment emphasised their support for the Stockholm Convention's approach to DDT.

Short-term use

The global toxics treaty, which has been adopted by 129 countries, calls for a phaseout of DDT but allows short-term use in some countries while safer and more effective alternatives are put in place.

``The international community must listen to the voices of people directly affected by DDT, whether in India and China, where DDT is produced, or in African countries where its use is being promoted," says Jayakumar Chelaton, Director of THANAL (Thanal Conservation and Environment Network).

Reverse the decision

Mr. Chelaton works with the Eloor-Edayar communities in India that are calling for a clean up of the contamination caused by the DDT production facility there. ``We join in demanding that WHO reverse this irresponsible promotion of DDT, and we urge the international community to investigate how politics managed to trump science and commonsense at WHO."

One recent study found clear neurological effects, including developmental delays, among babies and toddlers exposed to DDT in the womb. Researchers in Mexico and South Africa found elevated levels of DDT in the blood of people living in areas where DDT was used to control malaria, and breastfed children in those areas received more DDT than the amount considered "safe" by WHO and FAO. Studies have also linked exposure to increased risk of breast cancer, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists DDT as a possible human carcinogen.

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