Study Slams DDT Use in Malaria Control

The conservative campaign to bring back DDT to combat malaria got some bad news today. South African researchers report that the widespread use of DDT for indoor spraying to control mosquitoes has dramatically lowered sperm counts and disrupted reproductive systems among men exposed to the pesticide. The study involved 300 men in Limpopo province.

The study was conducted by Tiaan de Jager of the University of Pretoria. According to the Mercury newspaper:

The researchers said there was mounting evidence from around the world that DDT acted as an endocrine-disrupting substance, which altered the normal human hormone balance, lowered testosterone levels and possibly interfered with sexual accessory organs such as the seminal vesicle and prostate gland.

And, despite recent assurances by the World Health Organisation that DDT can be used safely in controlled anti-malaria campaigns, the new Journal of Andrology study has shown a direct link between high DDT exposure levels in people whose houses had been sprayed with the pesticide.

Concentration levels of DDT in some of the Limpopo men were among the highest recorded in the medical literature.

The researchers say the World Health Organization may have made a mistake in calling for the return of DDT to control malaria. They recommend switching to safer pesticides for indoor residual spraying to hold down mosquitoes.