Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, DDT, is an insecticide used to reduce the spread of malaria by killing mosquitoes. Paul Muller developed it in 1945. In 1948 he received the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. The chief of preventive medicine for the United States Army pron

In just the past year negotiators from 115 countries reach a decision to begin the phasing out of DDT through the world. "This was a breakthrough meeting in protecting public health and the environment against these persistent organic pollutants," says Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP. "Concrete proposals were put forth to bring about [the elimination of] some of the worst pollutants of the 20th century," (Hess). The negotiators noted a public health need for exempting DDT. Almost twenty countries still use the highly toxic chemical, primarily to control the spread of malaria. Three countries are known to manufacture DDT: China, India and Mexico. "At the meeting, nearly 400 scientists and doctors denounced a proposal by environmental groups calling for a global ban on the production and use of DDT by 2007," (Hess). The researchers argued that DDT remains one of the few ways of controlling a disease that annually claims nearly 3 million lives, primarily in developing countries. The production and use of DDT would be limited to controlling malaria and other public health problems. All other uses, including agriculture, unlawful, and DDT's few permissible uses would be continuously reviewed.

Humans consume DDT every day. It is consumed when you eat vegetables, fruits, tobacco, and even milk or meat. You see not only do you have direct contact with produce that has been sprayed with the pesticide, but also like the bald eagle you consume DDT through the food chain. After years of testing for poisonous residue in food, it was confirmed, "it is no longer possible to produce milk in the United States that is pesticide residue free. Milk contamination comes from the pesticides applied to forage and grain crops," (Bethel, 65).

ounced DDT as "the War's (World War 2) greatest contribution to the future health of the world," (Russell). In its fifty-five years of use it has been estimated to save over seven million lives through out the world.

manufacturers claimed. Not until the 1960s did concern extend to their effects on people and on the environment. These new, broader criteria led scientists to discover unforeseen, long-term problems with insecticides," (Russell). Senator Gaylord Nelson introduced a bill to ban the production of DDT in the summer of 1968. Experts and activists forced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban most uses of DDT in the United States by 1972.

Researchers have also found that when the pesticide DDT gets into fish eggs it can turn genetically male fi

Some common words found in the essay are:
DDT DDT, World War, India Mexico, DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE Pests, Control DDT, DDT United, Mother Nature, People Honduras, Rodenticide Act, DDT Bethel, ban ddt, federal government, public health, production ddt, insecticide non-toxic humans, 1972 federal, widespread ddt, spread malaria, chemical poisoning, ban ddt united, ddt united, sex changes fish, consume ddt, ban production ddt, genetically male fish,
Approximate Word count = 1704
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)