Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is an insecticide used in agriculture. The United States banned the use of DDT in 1972. Some countries outside the United States still use DDT to control of mosquitoes that spread malaria.
What is DDT in medical term?
Medical definitions for DDT DDT. [ dē′dē-tē′ ] n. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; a colorless contact insecticide, toxic to humans and animals when swallowed or absorbed through the skin, that has been banned in the United States for most uses since 1972.
What is DDT example?
DDT is an organochlorine insecticide that was first synthesized in 1874 . It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus, and the other insect-borne human diseases among both military and civilian populations.
What is DDT simple?
noun. ˌdē-(ˌ)dē-ˈtē : a colorless odorless water-insoluble insecticide C14H9Cl5 that is an aromatic organochlorine banned in the U.S. that tends to accumulate and persist in ecosystems and has toxic effects on many vertebrates.
What causes DDT in humans?
Human health effects from DDT at low environmental doses are unknown. Following exposure to high doses, human symptoms can include vomiting, tremors or shakiness, and seizures. Laboratory animal studies showed effects on the liver and reproduction. DDT is considered a possible human carcinogen.
What is DDT and why is it harmful?
DDT is considered to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical, or an EDC, a category of chemicals that researchers find particularly worrisome because of evidence that they alter and disrupt hormones important to good health, including reproductive health, as well as neurological and immune functions.
What is DDT made of?
Technical DDT is made by condensing chloral hydrate with chlorobenzene in concentrated sulfuric acid (Metcalf 1995). It was first synthesized in 1874, but it was not until 1939 that Müller and his coworkers discovered its insecticidal properties (Metcalf 1995).
Where is DDT still used?
DDT is still used today in South America, Africa, and Asia for this purpose. Farmers used DDT on a variety of food crops in the United States and worldwide. DDT was also used in buildings for pest control.
How does DDT affect food?
When an animal consumes food having DDT residue, the DDT accumulates in the tissue of the animal by a process called bioaccumulation. The higher an animal is on the food chain (e.g. tertiary consumer such as seals), the greater the concentration of DDT in their body as a result of a process called biomagnification.
Who produces DDT?
DDT is currently being produced in three countries: India, China, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK; North Korea) (Table 1). By far the largest amounts are produced in India for the purpose of disease vector control.
Who made DDT?
DDT has humble origins for a chemical that would eventually reach much of the world. First discovered in 1873 by a German chemistry student named Othmar Zeidler, the compound did not receive serious attention until a 37-year-old chemist named Paul Herman Muller synthesized it again in 1936.
Did they spray kids with DDT?
Is it safe? DDT was sprayed in America in the 1950’s as children played in the spray, and up to 80,000 tons a year were sprayed on American crops. There is some research suggesting that it could lead to premature births, but humans are far better off exposed to DDT than exposed to malaria.
Why did they spray kids with DDT?
A study in Finland has found that mothers that show signs of high DDT exposure in their blood may be more likely to have children with autism. DDT was sprayed in large amounts from the 1940s onwards, to kill disease-carrying mosquitoes.
When did DDT enter the body?
When DDT enters the body, it tends to be stored in the fatty tissues and is excreted from the body over time. High amounts of DDT exposure can lead to problems with the nervous system and liver.
Is DDT toxic?
How toxic is DDT? DDT is slightly to moderately acutely toxic to mammals, including humans, when ingested. See box on Laboratory Testing. The acute oral LD50 (rat) is 113 to 800 milligrams per kilogram of body weight or mg/kg (6).
What diseases did DDT cause?
The direct DDT exposure toxic effects in humans include developmental abnormalities [17], reproductive disease [18], neurological disease [19], and cancer [20]. The exposure DDT metabolite DDE (dichlorodiphenyldichloroehtane) also promotes abnormal human health effects such as childhood diabetes and obesity [21].
Did humans use DDT?
DDT was used to control the spread of typhus-carrying lice.
Why did we stop using DDT?
In the spring of 1972, Ruckelshaus banned DDT for pest control in the United States because of its persistence in the environment and carcinogenic properties. During the same year, Nixon also disbanded the PSAC.
Why should DDT be banned?
Some of the more recent scientific findings summarized in the report include damage to the developing brain, causing hypersensitivity, behavioral abnormalities and reduced neural signal transmission, and suppression of the immune system resulting in slower response to infections.
How does DDT get into water?
In surface water, DDT will bind to particles in the water, settle, and be deposited in the sediment. DDT is taken up by small organisms and fish in the water. It accumulates to high levels in fish and marine mammals (such as seals and whales), reaching levels many thousands of times higher than in water.
What enzyme does DDT target?
DDT is known as a non-genotoxic hepatocarcinogen and has been shown to induce microsomal enzymes through activation of constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and to inhibit gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in the rodent liver.
What is used instead of DDT?
Therefore, wise recommendations to manage mosquitoes to prevent malaria should be adopted to replace DDT with IVM and not by any other single method, which may cause health and environmental hazards as much as caused by DDT.
Is DDT cancerous?
DDT and DDE could possibly cause cancer in humans. This is based on several studies in animals and humans. Liver cancer occurred in lab mice that were fed large amounts of DDT. Some studies in humans linked DDT levels in the body with breast cancer, but other studies have not made this link.
How is DDT helpful?
It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus, and the other insect-borne human diseases among both military and civilian populations. It also was effective for insect control in crop and livestock production, institutions, homes, and gardens.
Where is DDT illegal?
The countries that have banned DDT include Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia,Cyprus, Ethiopia, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Lebanon, Mozambique, Norway, Switzerland, and the USA.