Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane or DDT a few decades ago was a widely used chemical to control insects on agricultural crops and insects that carry diseases like malaria and typhus. Though originally DDT was developed as a powerful multi-species pesticide, which was extensively used in World War II by the U.S. troops to clear the South Pacific islands of malaria causing insects. Even in Europe DDT was used as a de-lousing powder. Though in 1972, the United States government had banned the use and production of DDT in the country. Rachael Carson, a pioneer environmentalist, in her book ‘Silent Spring’ which was the first public chronicle on ecological dangers of persistent insecticides/pesticides, referred to DDT as the “elixir of death” in 1962.

    DDT is not naturally found in the environment and thus is entirely a man made chemical which can now be found in soil, water and air all around the world, even after many countries have banned the chemical years ago. One of the striking properties of DDT is that it does not readily degrade to other chemicals by micro organism, sunlight, or heat, makes it persistent in the environment.

    DDT which reaches soil, water and air directly or indirectly reacts differently when in contact with soil, water and air. DDT attaches tightly to soil and does not easily leach down the soil for the underground water. Once in the soil, DDT lasts for a very long time as few studies reveal that it takes about 15 years for DDT to break down when in soil. In soil, it usually breaks down to form DDE or DDD. Growing plants absorb DDT from the soil and pass it on to the animals or humans feeding on them.

    DDT has entered surface water either by direct spraying or indirectly through contaminated rain-washed water which enters the surface water bodies. DDT in water is absorbed by small aquatic organisms, which is further gets concentrate in the fish which feeds on these organisms. Some amount of DDT is evaporated into the air from the surface water due to break down of DDT by micro organisms and sun.

In the recent past and even today, DDT enters the air directly when sprayed as an insecticide. Some amount is released into the air during its manufacturing. The DDT has a short life span in air and is gone within 2 days of spraying. But the soil particles in the air may attract the DDT particles which then can be carried away to thousands of miles by the wind.

Certain specific characteristics that DDT holds, makes it one of the deadliest chemical of the present world. One being that DDT is insolubility in water, which means that it cannot be “diluted”. Secondly, DDT is highly soluble in fats (or lipids) and oils, which makes it high on accumulation levels once it enters any body. The stored amounts of the chemical leaves the body very slowly.

The indiscriminate use of DDT in agricultural practices and malaria control activities, especially in the past has resulted in dangerously high levels of these pesticides in our food chain. People are exposed to DDT, DDE, and DDD mainly through indirect means like eating foods contaminated with small amounts of these compounds. Root and leafy vegetables have the highest amount of these chemicals, though meat, fish and poultry products may also contain different levels of these compounds. The levels of DDT in animals or fish can be higher than in the environment as the DDT once in the body gets stored in the fat cells and also because it takes a long time for DDT to break down. It’s not only adults that are at risk to the effects of DDT, but the infants are more vulnerable to the deadly chemical as they may be exposed to DDT by drinking breast milk. A government sponsored study in 1996 showed lactating mothers in Delhi, the national capital India passing on an average 1.27 mg. of DDT in every litre of milk they produce. The study further revealed that a three kg baby consuming 500 milligrams of milk everyday would be ingesting 0.21 milligrams of DDT per kg when the acceptable daily intake (ADI) laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is 0.005 mg per kg of body weight. Though the actual amount of these chemicals absorbed from the foods by our body depends on both the amount of chemical concentration in the food and the quantity eaten. Though small amounts of these chemicals may also be breathed in directly from the air and absorbed into the body.

The nervous system in humans is the most affected by the exposure to the DDT, as it might lead to tremors and seizures besides other neurological disorders. Many lab tests on animals reveals that exposure to DDT may affect the liver and develop reproductive disorders. Some of the other identified health effects of DDT on humans includes higher incidence of undescended testes; poor sperm quality; premature delivery; reduced infant birth weight; miscarriage; reduced breast milk;, and nervous system impacts and liver impacts

It’s not only that humans alone are affected by this disaster chemical but a variety of animal and bird species are also plagued by DDT. Some species of birds that ingest DDT, especially birds of pray, for example American bald eagle, produce eggs with extremely thin shells which results in easy crushing by the adults birds. This phenomena result in lowering the number of egg hatching, therefore resulting in a declining population of the species. DDT also affects embryoninc development in birds; affect their mating patterns and also their parenting behaviour. The vanishing numbers of the vultures from the habitats in India is a crude reality that we face today as a result of extensive use of DDT. The traces of DDT found in the Adelie penguins of Antarctica recently, indicated the extent to which DDT can travel. The researches say that it’s probably due to the chemical’s accumulation in melting glaciers.

Because DDT can travel long distances and have a tendency to accumulate in the body, millions of human beings, animals and birds worldwide have buildups of the chemical in their body tissue, even though they might not have encountered DDT directly. The harmful effects of DDT on humans, animals and the environment as a whole, made the world community came together to fight the monster and thus the Stockholm Convention came into being in the year 2001 at Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm Convention which was signed by over 150 countries, focuses on eliminating or reducing releases of 12 POPs, known as “the Dirty Dozens” and DDT forms a part of these 12 dirty gases/chemicals. The Convention has worked forward to limit the production and use of DDT to controlling disease vectors such as malarial mosquitoes etc., in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations and guidelines. Though the convention is working forward to eliminate the use and production of DDT completely, but the lack of availability of any relatively cheap and effective alternative to DDT in keeping a check on malarial mosquitoes till date has made it difficult. The under developed and developing countries infested with the problem of disease vector have no other alternative, so effective and cheap to keep the problem away. The convention understands the problem and allow the use of DDT only when locally safe, effective, and affordable alternatives to this chemical are not available. The convention also provides with the provision wherein at least every three years the international community will evaluate whether DDT is still needed for this purpose or not. The convention also provides greater incentive for researchers and environmental & health organizations to develop alternative for malaria control so as DDT no longer remains an essential part of the anti-malaria activities.

    Though India is a party to the Stockholm Convention, it still produces and use DDT under the National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP) for malaria control. The pests not only are showing resistance to DDT but several studies have shown that Indians are accumulating unacceptably high levels of pesticide in their bodies. According to one of the study, Indians show a 22.8 parts per million (PPM) body burden of DDT compared to 4.3 for Japanese 3.70 for Australians and 2.24 for people in the United States. In India, only Hindustan Insecticides Ltd produces DDT, at its Eloor unit in the suburbs of Kochi in Kerala and is the biggest producer of DDT in the world. India not only uses and produces DDT for its national consumption, but it also exports DDT to other African countries to help them deal with the vector control.

    Now how long can we just pose to be silent viewers, looking at people poisoning our children, our parents, our relatives, our friends, our pets, our neighbour and our environment. How can we show ignorance to the facts around us which clearly indicates that few species are already on the verge of extinction due to consumption of this deadly chemical and the fact that DDT has even entered our food chain and now within our bodies. The fact that almost all of us today carry at least some amount of this monster chemical within our bodies, and days are not far off when its impact would be visible enough for us to realise our mistakes. But that might be too late, so why not respond to the natures call signalling the coming danger. Why to blame the governments alone for not taking appropriate steps, and why can’t we all step out and say no to DDT. Why can’t we stand up for our own future and that of our children’s future, by helping the authorities deal with the situations like mosquito breeding and malaria. Why can’t each one of us take the responsibility to keep our surroundings clean so that mosquito breeding can not take place, why can’t we all come together to protest when ever DDT is sprayed in our region pressurising the government to come out with safe alternatives of this chemical, why can’t we demand that more money should be invested in research programmes for development of safe alternatives to DDT. Till what time will we be blaming each other for not doing any thing, passing the blame to each other. We can not escape from DDT, even the innocent Penguins in the southern most tip of the earth is now no more free of DDT. This shows the extent to which DDT can travel and has travelled. It has almost plagued the entire globe and the time is tickling down. DDT is said to bring irreparable harm in animals and humans like cancer, reduced lactation, and reproductive problems. We are becoming slaves to this chemical but have closed our eyes to this ugly reality. Don’t carve such an ugly future for your children, stand up today and work towards eradicating the deadly monster from your lives. Do what ever best you can do to ward off any further use of DDT, along with educating the masses regarding this killer chemical.