Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, otherwise know as DDT is the most well know pesticide used around the world. (1) Up until 1972 DDT was the most commonly used insecticide in the United States (2) Initially DDT was used to control, lice, malaria and typhus. It then widened its reign to most crops in the United States. It attacked as a kill button. If you sprayed the crops, the insects would die and the crops would then grow stronger and better. What scientists didn’t know is what would happen when they sprayed the crops.
DDT is sprayed in a liquid form, therefore capable of evaporating or joining itself to other substances. The Liquid DDT, like any other liquid substance is capable of seeping into the ground, into plants and into the air. Infecting everything around with it’s toxic roots. The first trophic levels of the animal kingdom then ingest toxin in someway and the bioaccumulation process begins. …show more content…
Animals have become sterile, developed liver tumours and the chemical is highly toxic to aquatic species. On humans DDT is stored through Bioaccumulation in the fat glands but then stays inactive and sealed. Humans only are affected to DDT when directly exposed to it. The insecticide then presents itself in the form of a prickling sensation of the mouth, nausea, dizziness, confusion, headache, lethargy, incoordination, vomiting, fatigue, and tremors. (2)
The only benefits that DDT brought upon the world were a lack of insects, which is both good and bad. The lack insects encouraged crop growth but those crops were filled with DDT which then affected the animals that at them.
Nowadays DDT is still manufactured in the U.S.A. but is only sold to foreign countries for protection against things like Malaria and Typhus. DDT is not allowed for any use in the US though the effects of it are still being felt throughout the
DDT is sprayed in a liquid form, therefore capable of evaporating or joining itself to other substances. The Liquid DDT, like any other liquid substance is capable of seeping into the ground, into plants and into the air. Infecting everything around with it’s toxic roots. The first trophic levels of the animal kingdom then ingest toxin in someway and the bioaccumulation process begins. …show more content…
Animals have become sterile, developed liver tumours and the chemical is highly toxic to aquatic species. On humans DDT is stored through Bioaccumulation in the fat glands but then stays inactive and sealed. Humans only are affected to DDT when directly exposed to it. The insecticide then presents itself in the form of a prickling sensation of the mouth, nausea, dizziness, confusion, headache, lethargy, incoordination, vomiting, fatigue, and tremors. (2)
The only benefits that DDT brought upon the world were a lack of insects, which is both good and bad. The lack insects encouraged crop growth but those crops were filled with DDT which then affected the animals that at them.
Nowadays DDT is still manufactured in the U.S.A. but is only sold to foreign countries for protection against things like Malaria and Typhus. DDT is not allowed for any use in the US though the effects of it are still being felt throughout the