Essays on DDT

Environmental Hormone Mimics

Hormone mimics are types of chemicals in the environment that mimic the natural hormones in the body. Wagner and Oehlmann (1999) list three pathways xenohormones (foreign hormones) enter the body. When the xenohormones enter the body it is called “xenohormones uptake.” They are (1) breathed in from the air, (2) absorbed from body lotions, perfumes and deodorants, and (3) eaten with food that has been stored in containers or plastic wrap containing the chemicals. Estrogen, androgen and thyroid hormones are “chemical messengers” made by glands (like the thyroid gland and adrenal gland) to regulate different processes in the ...

Montrose Chemical Corporation, California

Superfund Site: Montrose Chemical Corporation, California 1. Introduction 2. Pollutants and Pathways.

Thirty five years of plant operation with no care taken about pollution allowed DDT (the end product), chlorobenzene (the raw material) and the resulting toxic products to move from the site in a lot of different pathways. Waste materials and Non Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPL) were released into the environment. Non aqueous solutions do not easily dilute in water. On soils they are very difficult to remove. When the NAPL gets into ground water if floats on top of the water. When NAPL-type pollutants are ...

Abstract

In 1972, the United States government banned the use of DDT after the awful discovery of the effects of this insecticide on the environment. The United States government raised concerns over the toxicity of this insecticide stating that the concentration of the drug in animal tissues, thus end up harming the animals in the process. A report carried out on the issue indicates that this insecticide had contributed to the extinction of birds and the thinning of eggs. However, the WHO released a statement on the issue stating that DDT is a useful drug especially for the control of malaria. According ...