Tuesday Documentary

The Rise And Fall Of DDT (1974x23)

Air date: Aug 13, 1974

This is the adventure story - with just a whiff of espionage - of a wonder chemical which began life helping the Allies win the second world war. Since then it has freed half a planet from the scourge of malaria, and saved ten million lives. But DDT is also attacked as the darkest threat of the Silent Spring. It is accused of dealing indiscriminate death to fish and birds and of being a cause of cancer in man. As a spearhead issue of the environmental revolution it has been judged in the courtrooms of America - and banned. Is it safe to use DDT anywhere in the world? And just how valid is the evidence brought against it? Written and produced by ALEC NISBETT and ROBIN BOOTLI