Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Sorry; lame thread-title, I know.

I never experienced this stuff when I lived in Seoul. The truck sounds like a bi-plane coming in for a landing. And it reeks to high hell. Stupid me for not leaping quick enough to close the bloody windows. Now the house smells like a mechanic's shop. I'm feeling lightheaded. It might actually be appreciated if it actually did a lick of good, but it don't. It really don't.

The avenging angel of blueberry muffins is coming to exact his revenge upon the ignorant. My slippers have a tiger-stripe pattern on them.

Ahem.

Questions:

1) It's harmless, right? I mean, they don't still use DDT in Korea, do they? It is the 90's, after all.

2) Will it make me infertile?

Sparkles*_*

[kangnamdragon]

I think it is DDT, honestly. I could be wrong...but I think I remember hearing that a few years ago. It may be a new formula though. The kids like to play in it so it must be ok, right?

[JacktheCat]

Judging by the smell I'd say it's primary component is diesel fuel, probably mixed with several dangerous/banned in the west pesticides.

Not the healthiest thing to be breathing in.


note: it doesn't seem to have much effect on the moskies.

[The Evil Clown]

The government wouldn't do something that may actually harm us! After all, Nixon himself ate cranberries treated with DDT to prove it was safe.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

I want aswers, dammit! I've been defiled.

My head is swimming. Literally.

I'm high (kids, don't get high).

Sparkles*_*

[SweetBear]

I often see kids chasing those trucks on their bicycles, right behind the fog, but they eat kim-chee, so they'll be alright.

[JacktheCat]

[oneiros]

[schwa]

I'm curious too & just tried a fairly intensive internet search to find out exactly what theyre spraying & came up with .. nothing! Does anyone have any facts on this? Wheres Real Reality when we need him?

[Grotto]

I am not sure what exactly is in it but when I was a kid in the 60's I grew up on armed forces bases and they used to spray that same crap around then.

I also chased after the trucks in the fog, usually holding my breath...I stopped playing in the stuff after I ran face first into a parked truck..kind of took the fun out of it

[Tinyteg]

[Hollywoodaction]

Before jumping to conclusions, you should do a little research. In Korea, they use the same type of unit to spray for mosquitoes that is used all over North America. Do a search on 'ULV' or 'ultra-low-volume fogging unit'. It's also easy to find what is sprayed in your area, if you know where to look. Simply do a search for '��� ulv'. I found that the pesticides used are also in use in North America, essentially different american-made products that are mixtures of two or more of the following pesticides: permethrin, pyrethroid, piperonyl butoxide, resmethrin, and sumithrin. Still, these pesticides have some toxicity to humans, but you'd need to be exposed to a considerable amount to be in danger. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you...unless you are the guy driving the truck.

As for DDT...DDT has never been proven to be dangerous to humans (really). In fact, the research that is used to back the claims of its toxicity was flawed. In 1969, that study found a higher incidence of leukemia in mice that had been exposed to DDT, but this finding is essentially irrelevant has human populations that had been exposed to DDT did not show a higher incidence of cancer. Additional proof came when the 1969 study had been invesitaged by the WHO. They found that both cases and controls had developped tumors. Further research also found that the mice had been fed moldy food that contained aflotoxin, a carcinogen. No tumors were found during a new study in which the mice were fed uncontaminated food.

As for the affects of DDT on peregrine falcons, it was found that the population was already in decline before DDT became widely used in North America. Furthermore, it was also found that falcons that had over 30 times the accepted level of DDT in their system were still reproducing at the same rate as uncontaminated ones.

They could stop spraying, but then they'd have to deal with outbreaks of malaria and japanese encephalitis.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Thanks for all the boring info. It's nice to hear that it's not too harmful, but I'd still prefer if they'd knock it off altogether. It DID make me pretty nauseous. And high.

Sparkles*_*

[Hollywoodaction]

Hey, it isn't boring to me (I once was a biochemist). I just got curious about what the moggy man was spraying a couple of years ago, so I read up on the subject. I was relieved to learn the Korean government isn't anymore incompetent than the one we have back home.

[Wisco Kid]

This was the most shocking thing for me coming to Korea. I agree, it smells like diesel fuel and makes me want to puke.