It has also been found that some of the long-lasting pesticides such as DDT were finding their way into humans. Newsweek of January 26, 1970, stated: “American women carry in their breasts milk that has anywhere from three to ten times more of the pesticide DDT than the Federal government allows in dairy milk meant for human consumption.”

Last year the United States government seized 28,000 pounds of Lake Michigan salmon. It was contaminated with too much DDT and dieldrin. The salmon contained nearly four times as much pesticide as the allowable limit.

What makes the problem grave is that some pesticides, such as DDT, are not soluble in water. So they accumulate in the organisms that are exposed to them. In time the animal may contain far more pesticide residues in its system than are in the environment. Indeed, it is said that some animals may contain more than a million times as much as their environment!

The use of pesticides, particularly DDT, has been so widespread that Dr. Lorenzo Tomatis of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France declared: “There is no animal, no water, no soil on this earth which at present is not contaminated with DDT.” Also, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin stated of DDT: “In only one generation, it has contaminated the atmosphere, the sea, the lakes and streams, and infiltrated the fatty tissue of most of the world’s creatures.”

Because DDT has turned up in milk, meat, vegetables, fruit and people, government officials in the United States placed strict limits on its use after January 1, 1970. But Robert H. Finch, Secretary of the Health, Education and Welfare department said that residues of DDT would show up in foods for “ten years or longer” after a ban goes into effect. While several other countries have also limited the use of DDT, hundreds of other pesticides continue to be used.

What Effect on Man?

Studies show that Americans have an average of 12 parts per million of DDT in the fatty tissues of their bodies. This is more than twice the amount allowed in fish sold commercially. England’s Guardian Weekly of November 15, 1969, reported: “It has also been discovered that the blood of the average American contains more DDT than is permitted in meat . . . chlorinated insecticides can cause chronic poisoning in people most exposed to them, and liver and kidney damage are known to be hazards.”

Upsetting Balance

Pesticides have disturbed what is called “the balance of nature.” An example of this was reported by Dr. Lamont C. Cole of Cornell University, as noted by U.S. News & World Report of November 24, 1969:

“The World Health Organization sent DDT to Borneo to kill mosquitoes. It worked fine. But it didn’t kill roaches, which accumulated DDT in their bodies. Lizards which lived in the thatched huts ate the roaches. The DDT slowed the lizards. Cats then easily caught the lizards. But the cats died . . . With the cats gone, rats came, carrying a threat of plague. And, with the lizards gone, caterpillars multiplied in the huts, where they fed on the roof thatching. Then the roofs started caving in.”

[Picture on page 21]

The milk of human mothers may contain much more DDT than is allowed in dairy milk

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A scientist says: ‘There is no animal, water or soil on the earth not contaminated with DDT’