D.D.T. And Arthritis

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30369, 19 February 1964, Page 7

D.D.T. And Arthritis

Sir, —Dr. Jepson has not answered my specific question: “Has the Health Department any advice to give as to how to reduce and remove residues and how to avoid further intake?” I did not say that there was any proven connexion between D.D.T. and arthritis. What I said was that Rachel. Carson, in “Silent Spring,” has awakened doctors and arthritic patients to the possibility that D.D.T. may be the cause of many arthritic patients becoming progressively worse. Doctors cannot be specific as to the cause of arthritis, but they do talk of over 30 kinds, which certainly leaves the way wide open for unproven possibilities. If levels of up to 68 p.p.m. residues show no demonstrable symptoms of illhealth, why all the pother about “tolerances to minimise to the fullest possible extent D.D.T. residues.”? Dr. Jepson knows full well that D.D.T. is a poison and that its presence as. residue in body fat becomes a real danger when released from the body fat.—Yours, etc., W. B. BRAY. Leeston, February 11, 1964. [The Medical Officer of Health (Dr. L. F. Jepson) said: “As I replied earlier, D.D.T. is eliminated from the body if exposure to the insecticide is removed. For example, orchardists who have had high levels due to occupational exposure return to low levels in their body fat if no further spraying or testing is carried out by them. The department has set tolerance levels to control the amount of D.D.T. in foods which may be consumed by man, as we are anxious to keep all poisons and noxious substances at such a level that no hazard to health can exist. The alternative to fixing tolerance levels which have been similarly adopted in the United States bf America is to ban the use of D.D.T. altogether—a step which would not be justified if D.D.T. is used with proper precautions.”]