By Dr. John Happs
Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (DDT) is an organo-chlorine insecticide first synthesised in 1874 by the Austrian chemist Othmar Zeidler. Its insect-killing capacity was later realised by the Swiss chemist Paul Muller in 1939.
Although it is readily absorbed through the exo-skeletons of insects, it is poorly absorbed through the skin of mammals. It kills insects by disrupting the transmission of electrical impulses between their nerve cells, causing them to fire spontaneously. Fortunately, DDT does not have the same impact on higher-order animals.
DDT was widely used by the military during World War 11 to control malaria, typhus and body lice and in 1944 Winston Churchill acknowledged the huge benefits that DDT offered to so many countries, saying: Continue reading “GREEN ZEALOTS AND INSECT-BORNE DEATHS”