University of Delaware ITUE

It's Not Easy Being Green

 

 

Part 1.
The first widespread use of DDT was in Italy during World War II - the clothing and bedding of allied troops and about 1.3 million civilians (including refugees) were dusted with DDT to control typhus spread by body lice. DDT offered promise as a safe yet effective insecticide with some saying, "DDT will be the War's most significant contribution to the future health of the world."

Shortly thereafter, DDT was the insecticide of choice for many commercial agricultural applications, and since it was so highly potent as a contact insecticide, its potential in the control of mosquito-born malaria was soon recognized.

It was not until the 1960's that people began to publicly express concerns about the effect of DDT on the environment and its inhabitants, linking it to the death of birds and fish and other ecological disasters. DDT was banned in the U.S. in the early 1970's, and in other industrialized countries, it was gradually phased out in the mid to late 70's. Nevertheless, the World Health Organization (WHO) continued to endorse DDT for the control of malaria.

Discuss the following questions:

  1. What do you know about DDT, and why it caused such problems in the environment?

  2. Why would the WHO continue to endorse the use of DDT?

UD ITUE Comments, suggestions, or requests to ud-itue@udel.edu.
"http://www.udel.edu/inst/jun2001/problem1.html"
Last updated June 14, 2001.
© Deb Allen, Univ. of Delaware, 2001; revised by Barb Duch.