January 30, 2007
persistence of DDT
I was listening to a radio newscast, Sunday night. It must've been a slow newsday, as the last piece was about the high levels of DDT in fish caught near L.A.
So why did a national newscast pick up on this? What would warrant the attention of a listener on the other side of the continent?
The pesticide was banned 35 years ago.
And as I was to find out from my internet search, the next day...
The L.A. Times headline:
Waiting for the DDT tide to turn
Federal study shows that fish caught off L.A. County still contain the world's highest levels of the pesticide 35 years after it was banned.
The AP story said that:
"There has been no improvement since the last regional fish survey was conducted in the late 1980s, according to a federal survey based on data collected mainly in 2002 but only recently released."
The reason for this is the huge deposit of DDT in the Pacific Ocean, just off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, something I mentioned a year ago (in my Jan. 18 entry).
Here's a shot of PV, actually the Pt. Vicente lighthouse:
(across the water is Catalina Island)
If you turn your head to the right, and look northward:
(In the distance, across the Santa Monica Bay, is Malibu.)