On Wed, May 07, 2003 at 07:04:30PM -0700, Mike Rosing wrote:
On Wed, 7 May 2003, Harmon Seaver wrote:
Speaking of DDT, I've always wondered what effect that had on my life, especially my nervous system. When I was a kid in South Carolina in the 50's, we used to ride our bikes behind the spray truck for blocks every time it came by. It was like being in a very, very thick fog.
Hard to say because you were only exposed a few times. If you don't have any genetic triggers, it may have no effect at all. Not to mention all the other chemicals you've been exposed to that might couteract any effect, and lack of exposure to accelerants. I've seen pictures of DDT fogs at beaches crowded with people. At the time, it was considered harmless to humans. It may actually be harmless to us, it's just not harmless to everything else.
Or OTOH, it could have done some strange things to entire generations of humans. Nerve agents being what they are, I wonder if there's ever been a serious neurological study?
A world without mosquitoes would be pretty bleak given how many other things eat them. Better to wipe out the malaria and swat the mosquitos!
Yes, having lived for a long time in northern MN where there has never been any spraying for bugs, and where they are far more numerous than in most of the US, I've never been all that bothered by mosquitoes. Black flies are worse, but for a shorter season. We also discovered that if you don't use scented soaps and shampoos, perfumes, etc, you aren't bothered nearly so much. We also didn't use repellent much at all, just a drop or two on the shirt collar and/or cap when they were really bad, and, if you were working in the garden in the evening, a bug headnet was great. It's also a matter of temperament, it was funny to notice how tourists would start flapping around, attracting a cloud of bugs, while you'd stand nearby unaffected, and using no repellent. I doubt the indigs were bothered all that much. Of course, malaria and yellow fever were a problem in the far south, but most of NA doesn't have that problem. West Nile virus is now spreading around, but a large scale study of dead birds on the East Coast determined that most were killed by ag chemicals, not the virus.
Patience, persistence, truth, Dr. mike
-- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com