What is DDT?
"DDT [Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane] is an insecticide ...[it] was initially used by the military in WWII for public health purposes. "
-DDT fact sheet, National Pesticide Information Center
"DDT [Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane] is an insecticide ...[it] was initially used by the military in WWII for public health purposes. "
-DDT fact sheet, National Pesticide Information Center
DDT is absorbed through the skin or inhaled and can also be consumed. Because DDT has an extra chlorine, it contains a negative charge. When DDT enters the cells in the bloodstream it disrupts mitosis and causes meiosis which in turn causes genetic mutations. The slow breakdown of DDT in the environment and in the human body causes it to continually impact future generations.
The Use of DDT
Advantages
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Disadvantages (at very low levels of exposure)
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The Widespread Spraying of DDT
Where?"In addition to its public health uses, growers used DDT on a variety of food crops in the United States and worldwide...DDT was also used in buildings for pest control."
-DDT fact sheet, National Pesticide Information Center |
How much?"Peak production of DDT in the U.S. was 188 million pounds in 1963."
-DDT fact sheet, National Pesticide Information Center |
Everyday Use“When I was little . . . they used to come down the street with a truck and and it had this great big load on it and it would blow this fog out and all the kids would run out and play in it and it was DDT...my mom would be running to shut all the windows because this fog was drifting towards the house."
-William McLaughlin |
International Usage
World War II as well as the typhus epidemic in Italy and the growing issue of malaria brought about the use of DDT.