What is DDT in animals?
DDT affects the central nervous system of insects and other animals. This results in hyperactivity, paralysis and death. DDT also affects eggshell production in birds and the endocrine system of most animals.
What is DDT in ecology?
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is an insecticide used in agriculture. Some countries outside the United States still use DDT to control of mosquitoes that spread malaria. DDT and its related chemicals persist for a long time in the environment and in animal tissues.
What is the function of DDT?
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) was developed as the first of the modern synthetic insecticides in the 1940s. It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus, and the other insect-borne human diseases among both military and civilian populations.
What organism does DDT target?
It is known for its ability to eradicate (destroy) pesky insects such as flies, lice, and mosquitoes, as well as agricultural pests. Although first synthesized in 1874 by German chemist Othmar Zeidler, DDT was not used as an insecticide until 1939.
What is DDT in food chain?
When an animal consumes food having DDT residue, the DDT accumulates in the tissue of the animal by a process called bioaccumulation. The higher an animal is on the food chain (e.g. tertiary consumer such as seals), the greater the concentration of DDT in their body as a result of a process called biomagnification.
Is DDT a pollutant?
DDT is a persistent organic pollutant that is readily adsorbed to soils and sediments, which can act both as sinks and as long-term sources of exposure affecting organisms. Because of its lipophilic properties, DDT can bioaccumulate, especially in predatory birds.
What is DDT Slideshare?
DDT it kills insects, mainly mosquitoes that carry malaria and used in the military, during World War II, to combat and control diseases like typhus, and other insect-borne diseases, and was also used to get rid of body lice.
What are 3 uses of DDT?
DDT was used to control malaria, typhus, body lice, and bubonic plague. DDT was a key element of malaria eradication in Italy and the United States. It was used to manage an epidemic of typhus in Italy and Germany during 1943-44 (1, 2). Cases of malaria decreased from 400,000 in 1946 to virtually none in 1950 (4).
What is DDT biology class 10?
DDT i.e. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane is an insecticide that was extensively used in the past for the control of insects (crop protection and disease control). It is a chlorinated hydrocarbon that was a highly effective, but extremely persistent organic pesticide.
Why is DDT considered as a pollutant?
Due to their toxicity, hydrophobicity, and bioaccumulative properties, DDTs have been classified in the national priority list of environmental pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority-persistent organic pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals [2, 3].
Why is DDT considered an environmental pollutant?
DDT is very insoluble in water and very persistent in the environment, making it a highly polluting hazard. Due to it’s low solubility, it has a greater rate of bioaccumulation in water, and thus poses a great long-term threat to aquatic wildlife.
What is meant by bioconcentration?
Bioconcentration is the specific bioaccumulation process by which the concentration of a chemical in an organism becomes higher than its concentration in the air or water around the organism. From: Treatise on Geochemistry, 2003.
What kind of pesticide is DDT used for?
What is DDT? DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is a pesticide once widely used to control insects in agriculture and insects that carry diseases. DDT is a white, crystalline solid with no odor or taste.
How are DDE and DDT found in the environment?
DDE is only found in the environment as a result of contamination or breakdown of DDT. DDD also enters the environment during the breakdown of DDT. Large amounts of DDT were released into the air and on soil or water when it was sprayed on crops and forests to control insects. DDT was also sprayed in the environment to control mosquitos.
What is the formula for the chemical DDT?
What is DDT? DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, is a chemical compound with the formula C 14 H 9 Cl 5. Under standard conditions for temperature and pressure (STP), this chemical compound exists as a colourless and tasteless crystalline solid.
Why was DDT banned in the United States?
DDT is a white, crystalline solid with no odor or taste. Its use in the U.S. was banned in 1972 because of damage to wildlife, but is still used in some countries, most notably for malaria control.