Our Stolen Future: Effect of DDT on Human Intelligence

The book that I am reading now, Safe Trip to Eden by David Steinman talks about the effect of synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides on animals such as rats, frogs and people.

The news is definitely not good. Here is an excerpt:

Scientists measured levels of DDT in 360 pregnant women now living in the Salinas Valley, but almost all of whom had come to the United States from Mexico in the last five years. In Mexico, chemicals banned in the United States are used for crop production, and I detailed the extensive contamination of Mexican produce with chemicals banned in the United States in Diet for a Poisoned Planet. Marla Cone reports in the Los Angeles Times most of these women were exposed to DDT through recent applications of the compound, noting that DDT was used on farms until 1995 and for mosquito control until 2000. DDT continues to be used worldwide today as protection against malaria.

According to the study results as reported in a Los Angeles Time article, for every tenfold rise in DDT exposure, the children's scores on mental tests dropped 2 to 3 points. Their motor skills were also reduced. In the worst cases, the highest DDT doses were associated with a 7- to 10- point drop in the mental scores of 24-month-old children compared with those who were not exposed.

Making these declines in intelligence more notable is that the average score in the study was only 86. Yet scores below 85 are strongly linked with developmental delays and learning disabilities. These children will find it difficult if not impossible to learn how to think and to solve problems. In addition, one of the key indicators of a breakdown in problem-solving skills is violence, whether it is in the neighbor hood or around the globe. If problems-solving skills are being impaired in America and Mexico, they are certainly also being impaired in society today. Maybe a little dust doesn't gum up the clockworks, but too much will. If we're busy dusting the IQ off our kids for a few dollars more and they can't apply intelligence to solving tomorrow's problems, then what's the point of having kids? It is likely that more violence will be substituted instead, thanks to the chemical dusting." (pages 205-206)

Although DDT is banned in the United States, there are other synthetic chemcials in our food and personal care products. If you want to protect yourself and your family from further contamination from these chemicals, buy organic food and buy personal care products (shampoo, deodorant, suntan lotion, moisturizer, cosmetics, etc.). Educate yourself about the effects of some of these chemicals by reading Our Stolen Future or Safe Strip to Eden or Diet for a Poisoned Planet or looking at websites listed on this blog. I hope to add more books and websites to this blog, as I learn about them myself.