Dangers of DDT

So Henry Miller (Analysis, 6 May) is advocating increasing the use of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).

In the early 1970s I worked for the Swiss company that developed the chemical. Dr Paul Muller had even received the 1948 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on DDT, which had tripled the rice crop in Indonesia and reduced disease in Africa.

However, when the chemical was found to be present in the bodies of Antarctic penguins, thousands of miles from any place it had been used, alarm bells started to ring. DDT had found its way into the food chain.

It was estimated then, in 1972, that if the world had continued to use it at its current rate the human population would have been wiped out in 30 years. DDT still has some uses, as Mr Miller suggests, but to advocate increasing that use is suicidal.

IAN A McCLUMPHA

High Road

Hightae, Lockerbie