• DDT was designed as an insecticide for mosquitoes and other pests.mosquito image by Martin Sevcik from Fotolia.com
  
  DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is a type of organochlorine insecticide. It is basically crystallized or gaseous chlorine combined with other chemicals that results in a highly toxic chemical that kills insects and adversely affects humans and animals. The EPA classifies DDT as a toxicity level II chemical, which is considered moderately toxic. DDT is rarely used in the United States, but it can be used in case of a medical emergency, such as a malaria outbreak. In third world countries, DDT is used to keep insect-borne disease in check.
  
  

Malaria Control

• The main use for DDT as of 2010 is as an insecticide spray that kills malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Because of DDT, malaria in the United States was almost completely eradicated by 1960. According to the World Health Organization, third-world countries where people die from malaria at the rate of every 30 seconds would greatly benefit from the use of DDT as a control method for malaria.
  
  

Typhus Control

• Another insect-borne illness that DDT is able to prevent is typhus. Typhus is a disease caused by the bacteria rickettsia, which lives inside fleas, lice, ticks and other insects that feed on animal and human blood. Typhus causes brain malfunctions that cause difficulty in thinking and functioning. Other problems such as difficulty breathing, headaches, nausea, rashes and sensitivity to light are also symptoms of typhus. DDT is able to kill the insects that carry this crippling disease and reduce the number of individuals lost to this disease in third world countries.
  
  

Field Spray

• Between 1945 and 1972 DDT was used extensively as a field insecticide designed to kill general pests that attack crops. As a result of this practice, crops grown during this periods contained high levels of toxic chemicals that were harmful to human’s health. After 1972 DDT was banned as a field spray and eliminated from general insecticide use. The United Kingdom banned the use of DDT as a field spray in 1984.
  
  

Effects

• DDT has some adverse effects on both animals and humans. According to Duke University, DDT can cause reproductive problems as well as nervous disorders. Development is also stunted in some cases. In fact, DDT was used as population control for some sea creatures. DDT causes bird eggshells to thin. Concentration of six to 10 mg of DDT per kg of body weight will cause nausea, headaches, tremors and confusion. According to Duke University, DDT may also be an estrogen mimic, causing reproductive issues in humans.