When asked about pesticides, almost everyone is familiar
with DDT. DDT stands for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane
and was the first modern synthetic insecticide.
DDT was first discovered in the 19th century, however it was
not until the 1940s that people started to realize it was extremely effectively
in killing off insects. After WWII, people
found that this product was so efficient in killing insects that it quickly
spread throughout the United States. Not
only was DDT attractive to citizens of the United States, but it was also
attractive to countries struggling with diseases from insects such as Malaria,
Yellow Fever, and West Nile Virus. DDT
seemed like the magical product that could kill off all harmful insects that
were destroying farmer’s crops etc. This
product spread like wildfire to anyone who wanted it, however it was not all
good. While DDT was killing insects and
pests, it was spreading through the air and poisoning the ground. In 1963, Charles Wurster, a chemist at
Dartmouth College, conducted a study on the effects of DDT around the
environment. After conducting his study,
he found that more than 150 birds had suffered from convulsions before dying,
after being exposed to DDT. Once people
started to notice the environmental changes after excessive DDT use, they
started to refrain from using DDT.
Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and conservationist, wrote a
ground-breaking book called Silent Spring
in 1962. Carson was aware of the terrible effects
of pesticides such as DDT and wrote the book to explain the entire story and
enlighten people with what was really going on.
Her book became so popular that it prompted the development of the
Environmental Protection Agency. In
1972, the EPA issued a cancellation for DDT and a ban of its use because of the
environmental effects. Currently, the
EPA deals with international negotiations to control DDT use among
countries.
While DDT is banned in the United States, many countries
that have problems with malaria still use the product. The major countries that still use DDT are
India, China, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Malaysia. These countries remain using DDT because the
discovered benefits outweigh the negatives for these societies. Malaria and Yellow Fever are huge problems
for the countries mentioned above.
Source 2: http://people.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/pest/pest1.html
Source 3: http://www2.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status
Source 4: http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/ddt-wars-the-long-battle-to-ban-a-bird-killing-pesticide/
