DDT may be unfairly or overly demonized, and could be used carefully in certain limited situations where the benefit is greater than the risk. But a careless a

DDT may be unfairly or overly demonized, and could be used carefully in certain limited situations where the benefit is greater than the risk. But a careless attitude like sticking your bare arm in vats of industrial chemicals (or drenching the inside of a house with kerosene and DDT, as the article describes) should not be encouraged. That sort of exposure will cause damage from even relatively safe chemicals. Unfortunately, people are bad at moderation. A binary choice between "perfectly safe" or "silent spring" seems to be the only public policy which works.