Difference between revisions of "DDT"
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| − | ''' | + | '''Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane''', commonly known as DDT, is a synthetic organic chemical compound that was first made in 1874 by Othmar Zeidler, an German-Austrian chemist. |
In 1939, Paul Hermann Müller<ref>In 1948 Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods."</ref>, a Swiss chemist working for Geigy Pharmaceutical, discovered its pesticidal qualities. It was soon put to good use by Allied forces in World War II to help control [[malaria]] and [[typhus]], especially in the Asian and Pacific theatres. | In 1939, Paul Hermann Müller<ref>In 1948 Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods."</ref>, a Swiss chemist working for Geigy Pharmaceutical, discovered its pesticidal qualities. It was soon put to good use by Allied forces in World War II to help control [[malaria]] and [[typhus]], especially in the Asian and Pacific theatres. | ||
Revision as of 11:31, December 22, 2007
Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a synthetic organic chemical compound that was first made in 1874 by Othmar Zeidler, an German-Austrian chemist.
In 1939, Paul Hermann Müller[1], a Swiss chemist working for Geigy Pharmaceutical, discovered its pesticidal qualities. It was soon put to good use by Allied forces in World War II to help control malaria and typhus, especially in the Asian and Pacific theatres.
Following the war it was used widely with great success to eliminate the last pockets of malaria from North America and Europe. In 1955 the World Health Organization started a program to eradicate malaria worldwide, largely through the spraying of DDT declaring Brazil, Egypt, the former Soviet Union and several Asian and Carribean countries to be malaria-free and thus removing 700 million people from risk of infection.
DDT was also widely adopted as an acricultural pesticide and it was, perhaps, overused by farmers. This led to campaign to ban DDT, another example of Liberal Hysteria later proved to be misinformation and bad science.
The World Health Organization in 2006 announced that it will use DDT for indoor residual spraying (IRS) in epidemic and endemic areas to reduce childhood mortality from malaria. [2]
See also
International Chemical Safety Card of DDT