DDT: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown, with Brenda Eskenazi

EHP: The Researcher's Perspective

DDT is unique among the "dirty dozen" compounds banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants because specific exceptions are made for the indoor spraying of this pesticide to control the mosquitoes that spread malaria. DDT is a cheap, effective weapon against the spread of this disease, which infects nearly 250 million people each year and kills nearly 1 million. However, little is known about the long-term human health effects of exposure to DDT in the context of indoor spraying. In this podcast, Brenda Eskenazi describes research issues surrounding the use of DDT to control disease vectors. Eskenazi is a member of the DDT Expert Group of the Stockholm Convention, and is the Maxwell Professor of Maternal and Child Health and Epidemiology and director of the Center for Children's Environmental Health Research at the University of California, Berkeley. She also is the first author of "The Pine River Statement: Human Health Consequences of DDT Use." Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.