DDT, the best insecticide ever?

2,021 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Sapper Redux
Rongagin71
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AG
Animal Eight 84
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AG
DDT saved a lot of lives in WW2.

One of the Entomology professors, circa 1982, was assigned to an Army company dusting with DDT in Italy & delousing people during WW2. He shared a few stories.
Rongagin71
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AG
Yeah, I can remember my grandmother coming into the bedroom where I was about to go to sleep and blasting DDT into the air out of a sprayer like the one shown above, but smaller.

Also, I was in Animal 8 in "67-"68 (the 4 close losses followed by 7 glorious victories school year).
Our CO was named Whitrock, and it was an appropriate name for him.
After we fish stole his footlocker with the intent of returning it at the 50yd line during the tu game, he went ballistic and kept us doing so much pt that grades began to suffer and we decided to return the locker by stringing it up high between the corners of Hart Hall (where we were staying) - but the real surprise for him was when he opened the locker and found a live racoon.
McKelveysCurse
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One of the Entomology professors, circa 1982, was assigned to an Army company dusting with DDT in Italy & delousing people during WW2. He shared a few stories.

That very much sounds like Dr. Jimmy Olson. He was involved with major mosquito projects here at A&M.
1990Hullaballoo
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Animal Eight 84 said:

DDT saved a lot of lives in WW2.

One of the Entomology professors, circa 1982, was assigned to an Army company dusting with DDT in Italy & delousing people during WW2. He shared a few stories.
I have a small "pepper" can of this I found in my bosses old garage. It was his dad's will try to post pic if I can find it when I get home.
terata
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It was also proven that DDT did not cause mutations nor kill off eggs of any species as Rachel Carson screeched in "Silent Spring."
Sapper Redux
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terata said:

It was also proven that DDT did not cause mutations nor kill off eggs of any species as Rachel Carson screeched in "Silent Spring."


This is not true. It has clear effects on humans and the environment and has been backed by numerous studies over decades. Bioaccumulation is well established and the lipophilic properties of DDT and its cousins are well known, making them ripe to accumulate in the bodies of tetrapods.

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/pdf/10.1289/ehp.02110125

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.0900785

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749199002316

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/1002513

DDT has also lost a lot of effectiveness over time due to growing mosquito resistance. This was identified as a serious problem in the 50s, well before Carson wrote a word.
https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/mobile/abstract/20113074508

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1756-3305-5-116
Rongagin71
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I believe every word you wrote, Sapper, and still think DDT was the best insecticide ever.
I could be wrong.
Sapper Redux
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Rongagin71 said:

I believe every word you wrote, Sapper, and still think DDT was the best insecticide ever.
I could be wrong.


I'm not downplaying how important it was and I think it still has a vital role to play. I also think folks are off-base to downplay its problems because they don't like the politics that led to the curtailing of its use.
CanyonAg77
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I agree that politics, not science, lead to the end of DDT
Sapper Redux
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CanyonAg77 said:

I agree that politics, not science, lead to the end of DDT


The science says the way DDT was used was destructive and useless by the 60s. I'm saying there are still limited uses for it, mostly as applied in dwellings.
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