The publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" stimulated widespread public concern over DDT.
OLD BRIDGE -- Children play in the insecticide cloud from a "mosquito truck" in Old Bridge in this photo from the 1960s.
According to activerain.com, "Paul Muller won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1948 for his breakthrough findings on how DDT killed insects. By 1962, malaria, a disease caused by an infected mosquito transferring a parasite, was eliminated in the U.S. primarily because of the use of DDT."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that "The publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" stimulated widespread public concern over the dangers of improper pesticide use. In 1972, (the) EPA issued a cancellation order for DDT based on its adverse environmental effects, such as those to wildlife, as well as its potential human health risks."
"Since then, studies have continued, and a relationship between DDT exposure and reproductive effects in humans is suspected, based on studies in animals."
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