[Science Report]:DDT Linked to Premature Births


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish SCIENCE REPORT.

American scientists have found that the chemical D-D-T increasesthe risk of pregnant women giving birth too soon. They say the useof D-D-T in the United States may have caused many premature birthsduring the Nineteen-Sixties. Premature births can cause healthproblems in babies and increase the risk of death.

D-D-T is a chemical used to kill insects. The United Statesbanned it in Nineteen-Seventy-Two because of its unknown healtheffects on people. Other industrial countries have also restrictedor banned the chemical. But it is still used in many developingcountries to control mosquitoes that carry the disease malaria.Malaria affects as many as five-hundred-million people around theworld each year. D-D-T is said to be effective in controlling thedisease.

D-D-T is part of the World Health Organization's program to endmalaria in twenty-five countries. So there are concerns about itseffects in those countries.

Scientists have long suspected a link between premature birthsand D-D-T. But evidence from earlier studies was not strong.

The new study was carried out by three federal health agenciesand the University of North Carolina. Researchers studied bloodsamples from almost two-thousand-four-hundred American women who hadbabies between Nineteen-Fifty-Nine and Nineteen-Sixty-Six.

D-D-T is a compound of several chemicals and agents. One chemicalremains in human tissue after many years. It is called D-D-E.Researchers tested the blood samples for levels of D-D-E.

Among the mothers studied, more than five-hundred-eighty babieswere either born premature or weighed less than most babies. Themothers of these babies had higher levels of D-D-E in their blood.Scientists say that these women were exposed to higher levels ofD-D-T in the environment. Some researchers say other chemicals thatare less harmful than D-D-T can be used to control malaria. Butother experts say no other pesticides are as effective and cost aslittle. They say banning its use now would be harmful to developingcountries where malaria is widespread.

Experts say D-D-T could be restricted under a United Nationstreaty on harmful chemicals if more evidence is found that it isdangerous to people.

This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by CynthiaKirk.

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