What is DDT and what are the uses of DDT?
DDT was discovered in the 19th century, but its ability as an insecticide was not detected until 1939. Throughout the whole world DDT was embraced as a miracle of modern science. It began its wide use as a low-cost, broad spectrum insecticide. DDT’s glory days began to collapse however after the release of a landmark book by Rachel Carson titled Silent Spring. Before its US ban in 1972 DDT was very popular pesticide within the US. The ban was the result of many studies showing that DDT was dangerous to animal life, and it was linked to declining bird populations. DDT stands for dichloro-diphonyl-trichloro-ethane. Here is it s chemical structure. DDT has a long history of successful uses. Its first large use was in 1943. It was delivered to Italy to put down louse-borne typhus. For years the US army used it to kill lice on its soldiers. It s widespread use to kill mosquitoes is estimated to have saved 500 million human deaths from malaria. It has proven beneficial in agriculture to cont
