Why DDT was banned

This picture was published in an advertisement in 1947 in the Time Magazine, claiming DDT was good for people, homes and farms. It took 20 years for scientists to realize how dangerious it was.

DDT is a synthetic compound used as an insecticide and pesticide to fight human illnesses and agricultural pests,but it was banned in the seventies, because it was proven toxic and dangerous.

Despite being prohibited as a pesticide, its medical use continues, especially to control malaria.

Dicloro-Difenil-Tricloroetanol (DDT) is a compound soluble in oils and organic solvents, although insoluble in water.

Despite having been synthesized in 1874, its amazing insecticide properties (it was defined as the "miracle compound", given its effects) weren't discovered until 1939, coinciding with the beginning of World War II, where it was used successful to combat typhus, malaria and other illnesses transmitted by mosquitos and other insects, among both the troops and the civilian population.

After the war, the efficiency of DDT extended its use as a pesticide and its production increased dramatically. DDT was used in a generalized manner to protect crops from pests worldwide, until the 1970s when the public learned about the environmental effects of using this synthetic compound.

Some examples why DDT was banned and what changes it can do in the environment:

When birds like the peregrine falcon ate several different contaminated prey animals, they suddenly had huge concentrations of DDT in their body. Consequentially, the chemicals damaged their eggs so, that the shells were too thin to protect the chicks, and the eggs would easily break at the slightest touch.

The grass that the cows eat is sprayed with DDT and the cow eats it. Then the cow's milk is infected with DDT. The people drink the milk and get DDT in their system and as the DDT moves up the food chain, it gets increasingly concentrated and more dangerous.

The impact on birds and many other animals led to the banning of the pesticide. Now modern pesticides are water-soluble and the human body does not store them, people pee them out.

V.J.