Interesting Facts to Know About DDT

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  • DDT is the abbreviated form of a chemical named Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane. It is used widely as an insecticide or pesticide and can even be used to prevent insect related diseases.

  • The use of DDT is banned in US. It is now used in many tropical countries as a chemical to prevent malaria and many other diseases caused by mosquitoes like dengue. Here are some interesting facts about DDT.

  • During the period of World War II, DDT was declared to be a savior drug for the mankind. It was known as an important chemical used to check several contagious diseases like flea, typhus rat fever, malaria. It was extensively used in those days.

  • Farmers used to spray it in their fields to protect their crops from pests. It quickly became popular because it was cheap, easily available and apparently safe too. DDT was known to bear its toxic form for years.

  • The production of DDT saw a surplus growth by the end of the World War II. In the mid 1990s, U.S produced about 220 million pounds of DDT a year. It was such an insect killer that some people termed it as ‘œatom bomb’ for insects!

  • DDT used to prevent lice. Surprisingly, even when human beings were in direct contact with DDT, it never harmed them in any way. Therefore, it can be concluded as just a pesticide.

  • Scientist got aware of the side effects of DDT when they discovered that houseflies are actually immune to DDT. Soon in 1946 an article was published by two able scientists, Clarence Cottam and Elmer Higgins which mentioned the harmful effects of DDT on animals as well as humans and crops. They said that DDT gets settled along the fatty tissues of certain animals.

 

  • It alarmed the scientists, and they started a study on dead fish census. They considered it a victim of the DDT. Such reports were never flashed to the public or in media at that time. Therefore, DDT found its extensive use all over the world.

  • Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was a book that marked the significant end of the chemical DDT. The book described the hazardous effect of DDT on animals and convinced her readers that it was responsible for cutting down the population of prey birds like eagles.

  • It has been observed that vultures and other prey birds are seriously affected when exposed to DDT. They face problems and complication in reproduction. The birds who had consumed DDT were seen to lay pre matured eggs. The shells used to break as they were thin and weak. The eggs barely lasted hatching.

  • DDT was permanently banned in U.S, officially, with the support of the scientist congress and Rachel Carson’s research. DDT is not being used in U.S since 1972. Public emergency could only bring about the use of DDT.

  • DDT chemical gets into the plasma membrane and harms an organism. Even microorganisms are effected by it. Algae and planktons are harmed even when a small amount of DDT is let to react on them.

Presently DDT is doubted to cause breast cancer in females. Some scientists even term it as an estrogen mimic.

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