DDT may cause androgyny in babies - experts

[Shana A]

DDT may cause androgyny in babies - experts
11 October 2009, 23:02
By Melanie Gosling

http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20091011222417700C903105

South Africa's use of the pesticide DDT for malaria control in the Limpopo River basin is likely to lead to an increase in babies being born with deformed sex organs or being born with both male and female genitalia.

This is the view of former CSIR scientist Anthony Turton, who delivered a lecture on the "Crisis in our Rivers" when he was awarded the Habitat Council's Conservation Award in the city on Saturday.

Because of DDT, banned in most of the world, South Africa faced a "national propensity to androgyny for future generations", particularly for babies conceived in high-risk areas like the Limpopo River basin.