[Market Economy Guide] The Environmental Tragedy in the Third World Caused by the DDT Ban

Because of the false claims made by Rachel Carson, author of *Silent Spring*,

malaria cases surged when the use of DDT was banned.

Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and environmental writer, published a book titled *Silent Spring* in 1962. In the book, she described a literally silent spring in which birds had all died from insecticides, so even when spring came, no birds were singing. Carson singled out DDT as the representative example of such insecticides. DDT was the most widely used insecticide in the mid-20th century.

Birds no longer sing

It became widely known when the U.S. military used it during the Pacific War and the Korean War. At the time, it was widely used to exterminate bedbugs and lice, so even today DDT remains a familiar name to many older people. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller, who developed DDT, received the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for that achievement.

DDT is, after all, an insecticide and has little direct relation to the ecology of birds. Nevertheless, Carson claimed that DDT killed birds, citing biological magnification as her evidence. When birds eat insects, DDT accumulates in their bodies. She argued that birds with accumulated DDT would gradually lay eggs with thinner shells, and because such eggs had lower hatching rates, bird populations would decline over time.

Carson’s claims later proved false

Later surveys of bird populations showed that most of Carson’s claims were not true. But at the time, everyone believed her. Around the 1970s, most countries banned DDT.

DDT is one of the cheapest and most effective insecticides in history. Yet advanced countries like the United States did not suffer much from being unable to use it. They could simply spend a bit more money and switch to other insecticides. Carson was American, and most Americans who were moved by her book likewise suffered no hardship from the ban on DDT.

But the situation was different in underdeveloped countries. In tropical regions, DDT was the cheapest and surest means of reducing mosquito populations and preventing malaria outbreaks. The cases of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean and South Africa in Africa show this clearly. In 1946, Sri Lanka had 2.8 million malaria patients. After DDT was introduced, that number fell to just 7 by 1963. But when DDT use was banned, malaria began spreading again, and between 1968 and 1969 the number of cases exploded to 2.5 million.

In South Africa, the white minority government continued using DDT despite international pressure, but it was banned after democratization and the change of government in the 1990s. As a result, annual malaria cases, which had been only 5,000 in 1999, suddenly rose to 50,000. Not only in Sri Lanka and South Africa but also in other parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, many people contracted malaria and died. It took a long time before those countries resumed using DDT despite opposition from environmentalists.

The lesson humanity learned from the ban on DDT is that environmental issues are inseparable from poverty. Environmental protection measures that posed little problem in wealthy countries brought disaster-like consequences in poor countries.

The environment is worse in poor countries

The most serious loss of life associated with environmental issues is caused not by the polluted environment itself but by poverty. Indira Gandhi, India’s first female prime minister, once stressed early on that “the most serious environmental problem is poverty.” When they succeeded in banning the use of DDT, many environmental activists in advanced countries probably firmly believed that their actions would save birds, save nature, and ultimately save humanity. But that hasty measure instead led to the tragic result of driving hundreds of thousands, even millions, of innocent people in the Third World to their deaths.

When we approach environmental issues, we must consider not only the environment itself but also the broader socioeconomic conditions of the society in question. The environment is too important for environmental policy decisions to be swayed by environmentalists alone; experts from various fields, including economists, must be able to participate actively.

In the 21st century, child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa declined because the region’s economy, though slowly, achieved some growth. If the reason human beings seek to protect the environment lies in the desire for a better future, then ultimately the solution to environmental problems must also be aligned with reviving the economy.

■ Please remember

In tropical regions, DDT was the cheapest and surest means of reducing mosquito populations and preventing malaria outbreaks. In 1946, Sri Lanka had 2.8 million malaria patients. After DDT was introduced, that number fell to just 7 by 1963. But when DDT use was banned, malaria began spreading again, and between 1968 and 1969 the number of cases exploded to 2.5 million.

Sung-no Choi, President of the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [시장경제 길라잡이] DDT 금지가 부른 제3세계의 환경 비극

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2020-03-23

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=9&idx=22499