DDT

abbreviation

Chemistry.

1. dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane: a potent synthetic insecticide, C 14 H 9 Cl 5 , initially developed in the 1940s to combat insect-borne human diseases and later found to be highly and adversely persistent in the environment: agricultural use now prohibited in many countries, including, since 1972, the United States.

DDT

noun

1. dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; a colourless odourless substance used as an insecticide. It is toxic to animals and is known to accumulate in the tissues. It is now banned in the UK

DDT

1. Short for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. A powerful insecticide that is also poisonous to humans and animals. It remains active in the environment for many years and has been banned in the United States for most uses since 1972 but is still in use in some countries in which malaria is endemic. Chemical formula: C ₁₄ H ₉ Cl ₅ .

DDT

1. A colorless insecticide that kills on contact. It is poisonous to humans and animals when swallowed or absorbed through the skin. DDT is an abbreviation for d ichloro d iphenyl t richloroethane.

Although DDT, when it was first invented, was considered a great advance in protecting crops from insect damage and in combating diseases spread by insects (such as malaria), discoveries led to its ban in many countries. Residue from DDT has been shown to remain in the ecosystem and the food chain long after its original use, causing harm and even death to animals considered harmless or useful to man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of DDT¹

d(ichloro)d(iphenyl)t(richloroethane)

Example Sentences

In 2020 she broke the story that barrels of DDT’s toxic waste, last sent to the ocean floor decades ago by its biggest manufacturer, Montrose, were closer to Southern California’s shores than previously thought.

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Peregrine falcons, which were once nearly wiped out in Australia due to the use of pesticides in agriculture, have staged a recovery since the 1980s when DDT and other chemicals were banned.

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There, American health inspectors typically forced aspiring braceros to strip naked before subjecting them to blood tests, X-rays, rectal exams and a final dusting of their bodies and clothes with DDT.

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A series of Times reports in recent years have unraveled a haunting history of how the nation’s largest manufacturer of DDT had once dumped its waste at sea, just off the coast of Los Angeles.

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The iconic American bird was almost wiped out in the 1960s due to the pesticide DDT, which poisoned the eagles and made their eggs weak and flimsy.

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Related Words

• defoliant 
• fungicide 
• insecticide 
• pesticide