I hate mosquitos that attack me at night when I’m defenseless.Swatting at them isn’t very effective when I’m sleeping. Tod burns campfire-scented mosquito coils on the veranda while he works outside, but the smoke from them doesn’t reach the bedroom.
So I decided to get some mosquito poison for the bedroom. I selected Earth No Mat, liquid DDT in an electric warmer.
DDT was synthesised in Germany in 1874 and hit its peak in the US in 1959 when 80 millions pounds of DDT were deployed. DDT was banned in the US in 1972 because it contaminates groundwater and soil and accumulates in wildlife (and presumably humans as well).
But DDT’s used pretty much everywhere else as a general purpose insecticide, so why not jump on the bandwagon? Earth No Mat claims 500,000,000 units sold (World’s Number 1!). Yes, I’m sure Rachel Carson is turning over in her grave. But she isn’t plagued with Japanese mosquitos.
I don’t know if I’ll continue using the poison, though I have a 60 day supply. It seems unsporting to gas mosquitos and I am little bit worried about the effect of breathing in DDT, even in small quantities. I guess if I poison the mosquitos, the bedroom will also be free of jumping spiders, which makes me sad.
So I’ll have to choose—avoid possible long term health and environmental effects or enjoy blissful mosquito-free sleep? Hmmmm….
(Thanks to all the comments, I’m not so worried about the poison. It’s not The DDT, but a synthetic DDT.)
Posted by kuri at June 22, 2003 08:20 AMenjoy blissful mosquito-free sleep. I do it with a similar insectide, I think that DDT is banned in spain too but I have one that works perfectly and i don’t mind getting poisoned if I get rid of those little bastards.
Posted by: deadsunrise on June 22, 2003 12:17 PMOne reason DDT was banned was the discovery that it destroys the eggshells of many birds. It was contributing to the endangerment of raptors such as the bald eagle.
I’ve found that taking care to close window and door screens goes a long way to solving the problem.
Posted by: Michael on June 22, 2003 03:12 PM Well, DDT is banned in Japan since 1970s, so it is not appropriate to call Earth No Mat DDT. Now Synthetic pyrethroid is the main stream.
Well, sensitive natural lovers would say No to any of this kind, but I think it much better not to have mosquitos. They are sometimes very dangerous infection carieers.
DDT will build up in the fatty tissues of your body and increases your risk of breast cancer. If you ever plan on having and nursing children, DDT will also contaminate your breast milk and thus be passed on to your newborn increasing the chance of developmental problems.
How about some mosquito netting instead?
Posted by: M Sinclair Stevens on June 22, 2003 11:18 PMAs Sayaka commented above, DDT is banned in Japan, and your mosquito mat most certainly uses a synthetic pyrethrin derivative which is neurotoxic to insects, but is innocuously metabolized and excreted by mammals.
More info on pyrethroids:
http://www.inchem.org/documents/pds/pds/pest11_e.htm
Sleep peacefully, thus :-)
I used to work in a lab that tested export beef for DDT. We had to keep our calibrated samples under strict conditions as it is nasty stuff that is cumulative.. but as you have found out, the mossie mat people are using creative marketing licence.. however, if something had DDT splashed around on the label, I would probably not buy it.. but then I love the good (?) marketing techniques of Japanese consumer companies..
Posted by: Tracey on June 24, 2003 06:14 PM