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83-489: The Montrose Chemical Corporation of California was a chemical corporation that was the largest producer of the insecticide DDT in the United States from 1947 until it stopped production in 1982. The president of Montrose was Pincus Rothberg before 1968, then Samuel Rotrosen thereafter. Montrose Chemical Corporation improperly disposed chemical waste from DDT production, resulting in serious environmental damage to

166-432: A bakery would have to buy a separate policy for each of the following risks: manufacturing operations, elevators, teamsters , product liability, contractual liability (for a spur track connecting the bakery to a nearby railroad), premises liability (for a retail store), and owners' protective liability (for negligence of contractors hired to make any building modifications). In 1941, the insurance industry began to shift to

249-743: A patent in 1934 by Wolfgang von Leuthold. DDT's insecticidal properties were not, however, discovered until 1939 by the Swiss scientist Paul Hermann Müller , who was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his efforts. DDT is the best-known of several chlorine -containing pesticides used in the 1940s and 1950s. During this time, the use of DDT was driven by protecting American soldiers from diseases in tropical areas. Both British and American scientists hoped to use it to control spread of malaria , typhus , dysentery , and typhoid fever among overseas soldiers, especially considering that

332-422: A policy. Oral contracts pending the issuance of a written policy can occur. The insurance contract or agreement is a contract whereby the insurer promises to pay benefits to the insured or on their behalf to a third party if certain defined events occur. Subject to the "fortuity principle", the event must be uncertain. The uncertainty can be either as to when the event will happen (e.g. in a life insurance policy,

415-1069: A possible association with liver cancer and biliary tract cancer are conflicting: workers who did not have direct occupational DDT contact showed increased risk. White men had an increased risk, but not white women or black men. Results about an association with multiple myeloma, prostate and testicular cancer, endometrial cancer and colorectal cancer have been inconclusive or generally do not support an association. A 2017 review of liver cancer studies concluded that "organochlorine pesticides, including DDT, may increase hepatocellular carcinoma risk". A 2009 review, whose co-authors included persons engaged in DDT-related litigation, reached broadly similar conclusions, with an equivocal association with testicular cancer. Case–control studies did not support an association with leukemia or lymphoma. The question of whether DDT or DDE are risk factors in breast cancer has not been conclusively answered. Several meta analyses of observational studies have concluded that there

498-475: A predictor of breast cancer, and a marker of high risk". Malaria remains the primary public health challenge in many countries. In 2015, there were 214 million cases of malaria worldwide resulting in an estimated 438,000 deaths, 90% of which occurred in Africa. DDT is one of many tools to fight the disease. Its use in this context has been called everything from a "miracle weapon [that is] like Kryptonite to

581-489: A research team at UC Santa Barbara discovered barrels of DDT leaking on the ocean floor which extended well beyond the spills at Montrose's Superfund site. A grant was awarded to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2022 to fully characterize the dumpsite situation. DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) move from contaminated sediments into the water, so although the dumping of DDT stopped in 1982,

664-443: A resurgence. In many areas early successes partially or completely reversed, and in some cases rates of transmission increased. The program succeeded in eliminating malaria only in areas with "high socio-economic status, well-organized healthcare systems, and relatively less intensive or seasonal malaria transmission". DDT was less effective in tropical regions due to the continuous life cycle of mosquitoes and poor infrastructure. It

747-577: A role in the elimination of malaria in Europe and North America . Despite concerns emerging in the scientific community, and lack of research, the FDA considered it safe up to 7 parts per million in food. There was a large economic incentive to push DDT into the market and sell it to farmers, governments, and individuals to control diseases and increase food production. DDT was also a way for American influence to reach abroad through DDT-spraying campaigns. In

830-661: Is a major factor in the comeback of the bald eagle (the national bird of the United States ) and the peregrine falcon from near-extinction in the contiguous United States . The evolution of DDT resistance and the harm both to humans and the environment led many governments to curtail DDT use. A worldwide ban on agricultural use was formalized under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants , which has been in effect since 2004. Recognizing that total elimination in many malaria-prone countries

913-639: Is also conferred by up-regulation of genes expressing cytochrome P450 in some insect species, as greater quantities of some enzymes of this group accelerate the toxin's metabolism into inactive metabolites. Genomic studies in the model genetic organism Drosophila melanogaster revealed that high level DDT resistance is polygenic, involving multiple resistance mechanisms. In the absence of genetic adaptation, Roberts and Andre 1994 find behavioral avoidance nonetheless provides insects with some protection against DDT. The M918T mutation event produces dramatic kdr for pyrethroids but Usherwood et al. 2005 find it

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996-426: Is applied to the inside walls of homes to kill or repel mosquitoes. This intervention, called indoor residual spraying (IRS), greatly reduces environmental damage. It also reduces the incidence of DDT resistance. For comparison, treating 40 hectares (99 acres) of cotton during a typical U.S. growing season requires the same amount of chemical to treat roughly 1,700 homes. DDT is a persistent organic pollutant that

1079-477: Is clofenotane. Commercial DDT is a mixture of several closely related compounds. Due to the nature of the chemical reaction used to synthesize DDT, several combinations of ortho and para arene substitution patterns are formed. The major component (77%) is the desired p , p ' isomer . The o , p ' isomeric impurity is also present in significant amounts (15%). Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD) make up

1162-415: Is considered likely to be a human carcinogen although the majority of studies suggest it is not directly genotoxic . DDE acts as a weak androgen receptor antagonist , but not as an estrogen . p , p ' -DDT, DDT's main component, has little or no androgenic or estrogenic activity. The minor component o , p ' -DDT has weak estrogenic activity. DDT is classified as "moderately toxic" by

1245-511: Is currently unfeasible in the absence of affordable/effective alternatives for disease control, the convention exempts public health use within World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines from the ban. DDT still has limited use in disease vector control because of its effectiveness in killing mosquitos and thus reducing malarial infections, but that use is controversial due to environmental and health concerns. DDT

1328-542: Is entirely ineffective against DDT. Scott 2019 believes this test in Drosophila oocytes holds for oocytes in general. DDT was first synthesized in 1874 by Othmar Zeidler under the supervision of Adolf von Baeyer . It was further described in 1929 in a dissertation by W. Bausch and in two subsequent publications in 1930. The insecticide properties of "multiple chlorinated aliphatic or fat-aromatic alcohols with at least one trichloromethane group" were described in

1411-556: Is highly hydrophobic and nearly insoluble in water but has good solubility in most organic solvents , fats and oils . DDT does not occur naturally and is synthesised by consecutive Friedel–Crafts reactions between chloral ( CCl 3 CHO ) and two equivalents of chlorobenzene ( C 6 H 5 Cl ), in the presence of an acidic catalyst . DDT has been marketed under trade names including Anofex, Cezarex, Chlorophenothane, Dicophane, Dinocide, Gesarol, Guesapon, Guesarol, Gyron, Ixodex, Neocid, Neocidol and Zerdane; INN

1494-442: Is little industry-wide standardization. For the vast majority of insurance policies, the only page that is heavily custom-written to the insured's needs is the declarations page. All other pages are standard forms that refer back to terms defined in the declarations as needed. However, certain types of insurance, such as media insurance, are written as manuscript policies , which are either custom-drafted from scratch or written from

1577-558: Is no overall relationship between DDT exposure and breast cancer risk. The United States Institute of Medicine reviewed data on the association of breast cancer with DDT exposure in 2012 and concluded that a causative relationship could neither be proven nor disproven. A 2007 case-control study using archived blood samples found that breast cancer risk was increased 5-fold among women who were born prior to 1931 and who had high serum DDT levels in 1963. Reasoning that DDT use became widespread in 1945 and peaked around 1950, they concluded that

1660-410: Is one of many tools to fight malaria, which remains the primary public health challenge in many countries. WHO guidelines require that absence of DDT resistance must be confirmed before using it. Resistance is largely due to agricultural use, in much greater quantities than required for disease prevention. DDT is similar in structure to the insecticide methoxychlor and the acaricide dicofol . It

1743-540: Is readily adsorbed to soils and sediments , which can act both as sinks and as long-term sources of exposure affecting organisms. Depending on environmental conditions, its soil half-life can range from 22 days to 30 years. Routes of loss and degradation include runoff, volatilization, photolysis and aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation . Due to hydrophobic properties, in aquatic ecosystems DDT and its metabolites are absorbed by aquatic organisms and adsorbed on suspended particles, leaving little DDT dissolved in

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1826-517: Is similar across a wide variety of different types of insurance policies. The insurance policy is generally an integrated contract, meaning that it includes all forms associated with the agreement between the insured and insurer. In some cases, however, supplementary writings such as letters sent after the final agreement can make the insurance policy a non-integrated contract. One insurance textbook states that generally "courts consider all prior negotiations or agreements ... every contractual term in

1909-464: Is toxic to a wide range of living organisms, including marine animals such as crayfish , daphnids , sea shrimp and many species of fish . DDT, DDE and DDD magnify through the food chain , with apex predators such as raptor birds concentrating more chemicals than other animals in the same environment. They are stored mainly in body fat . DDT and DDE are resistant to metabolism; in humans, their half-lives are 6 and up to 10 years, respectively. In

1992-481: The American Association of Insurance Services . This reduces the regulatory burden for insurers as policy forms must be approved by states; it also allows consumers to more readily compare policies, albeit at the expense of consumer choice . In addition, as policy forms are reviewed by courts, the interpretations become more predictable as courts elaborate upon the interpretation of the same clauses in

2075-675: The Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles . Montrose's former main plant in Harbor Gateway South area of Los Angeles near Torrance, California has been designated as a Superfund site by the United States Environmental Protection Agency . Between the late 1950s and early 1970s, the company was responsible for discharging an estimated 1,700 tons of DDT into the ocean via the county's sewer system, which contaminated sediment on

2158-841: The Palos Verdes peninsula, citing damages to the nearby marine environment. In December 2000, the Montrose Chemical Corporation of California and three other corporations settled their lawsuits for a collective $ 77 million. When combined with prior lawsuits, this brought the total up to $ 140 million to fund the restoration of the Palos Verdes Shelf marine environment. The issue of insurance coverage under Montrose Chemical's insurance policies for cleanup costs has been litigated for many decades in California courts , resulting in landmark opinions of

2241-496: The South Pacific , it was sprayed aerially for malaria and dengue fever control with spectacular effects. While DDT's chemical and insecticidal properties were important factors in these victories, advances in application equipment coupled with competent organization and sufficient manpower were also crucial to the success of these programs. In 1945, DDT was made available to farmers as an agricultural insecticide and played

2324-480: The Supreme Court of California complained: The instant case presents yet another illustration of the dangers of the present complex structuring of insurance policies. Unfortunately the insurance industry has become addicted to the practice of building into policies one condition or exception upon another in the shape of a linguistic Tower of Babel . We join other courts in decrying a trend which both plunges

2407-489: The Supreme Court of California in 1993, 1995, and 2020. DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane , commonly known as DDT , is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride . Originally developed as an insecticide , it became infamous for its environmental impacts . DDT was first synthesized in 1874 by the Austrian chemist Othmar Zeidler . DDT's insecticidal action

2490-512: The 1944 issue of Life magazine there was a feature regarding the Italian program showing pictures of American public health officials in uniforms spraying DDT on Italian families. In 1955, the World Health Organization commenced a program to eradicate malaria in countries with low to moderate transmission rates worldwide, relying largely on DDT for mosquito control and rapid diagnosis and treatment to reduce transmission. The program eliminated

2573-413: The 1950s and 1960s relied heavily on DDT and the results were promising, though there was a resurgence in developing countries afterwards. By October 1945, DDT was available for public sale in the United States. Although it was promoted by government and industry for use as an agricultural and household pesticide, there were also concerns about its use from the beginning. Opposition to DDT was focused by

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2656-747: The 1950s the federal government began tightening regulations governing its use. These events received little attention. Women like Dorothy Colson and Mamie Ella Plyler of Claxton, Georgia , gathered evidence about DDT's effects and wrote to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the National Health Council in New York City, and other organizations. In 1957 The New York Times reported an unsuccessful struggle to restrict DDT use in Nassau County, New York , and

2739-459: The 1962 publication of Rachel Carson 's book Silent Spring . It talked about environmental impacts that correlated with the widespread use of DDT in agriculture in the United States, and it questioned the logic of broadcasting potentially dangerous chemicals into the environment with little prior investigation of their environmental and health effects. The book cited claims that DDT and other pesticides caused cancer and that their agricultural use

2822-577: The DDT caused their eggshells to become too thin and to break open before the eagle was fully developed. California sea lions have high levels of DDT and a high rate of cancer which is rare in wild animals. In October 1989, the former Montrose Chemical site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List . In 1990, the United States and California filed lawsuits against Montrose Chemical and nine other facilities near

2905-631: The EPA's internal staff stating that DDT was not an imminent danger. However, these findings were criticized, as they were performed mostly by economic entomologists inherited from the United States Department of Agriculture , who many environmentalists felt were biased towards agribusiness and understated concerns about human health and wildlife. The decision thus created controversy. The EPA held seven months of hearings in 1971–1972, with scientists giving evidence for and against DDT. In

2988-480: The Palos Verdes Shelf area of the Montrose Chemical Superfund site exhibited continued thin-shell problems, though DDT's role in the decline of the California condor is disputed. The biological thinning mechanism is not entirely understood, but DDE appears to be more potent than DDT, and strong evidence indicates that p , p ' -DDE inhibits calcium ATPase in the membrane of

3071-665: The Palos Verdes Shelf remains contaminated. DDT and PCBs enter the food chain through worms and micro-organisms living in the sediment. Fish may eat many of these organisms, causing the DDT and PCBs to accumulate in fish tissue. Fish-eating birds, marine mammals, and birds of prey that feed on both accumulate more of the toxins. Since 1985, fish consumption advisories and health warnings have been posted in Southern California because of elevated DDT and PCB levels. Bottom-feeding fish are particularly at risk for high contamination levels. Consumption of white croaker , which has

3154-596: The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) and "moderately hazardous" by WHO, based on the rat oral LD 50 of 113 mg/kg. Indirect exposure is considered relatively non-toxic for humans. Primarily through the tendency for DDT to build up in areas of the body with high lipid content, chronic exposure can affect reproductive capabilities and the embryo or fetus. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified DDT as Group 2A "probably carcinogenic to humans". Previous assessments by

3237-456: The U.S. National Toxicology Program classified it as "reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen" and by the EPA classified DDT, DDE and DDD as class B2 "probable" carcinogens ; these evaluations were based mainly on animal studies. A 2005 Lancet review stated that occupational DDT exposure was associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk in 2 case control studies, but another study showed no DDE dose-effect association. Results regarding

3320-719: The US before the 1972 ban. Usage peaked in 1959 at about 36,000 tonnes. China ceased production in 2007, leaving India the only country still manufacturing DDT; it is the largest consumer. In 2009, 3,314 tonnes were produced for malaria control and visceral leishmaniasis . In recent years, in addition to India, just seven other countries, all in Africa, are still using DDT. In insects, DDT opens voltage-sensitive sodium ion channels in neurons , causing them to fire spontaneously, which leads to spasms and eventual death. Insects with certain mutations in their sodium channel gene are resistant to DDT and similar insecticides. DDT resistance

3403-795: The United States, these chemicals were detected in almost all human blood samples tested by the Centers for Disease Control in 2005, though their levels have sharply declined since most uses were banned. Estimated dietary intake has declined, although FDA food tests commonly detect it. Despite being banned for many years, in 2018 research showed that DDT residues are still present in European soils and Spanish rivers. The chemical and its breakdown products DDE and DDD caused eggshell thinning and population declines in multiple North American and European bird of prey species. Both laboratory experiments and field studies confirmed this effect. The effect

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3486-734: The accuracy of giving animals high amounts of pesticides for cancer potential. Industry sought to overturn the ban, while the EDF wanted a comprehensive ban. The cases were consolidated, and in 1973 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the EPA had acted properly in banning DDT. During the late 1970s, the EPA also began banning organochlorines, pesticides that were chemically similar to DDT. These included aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, toxaphene, and mirex. Some uses of DDT continued under

3569-439: The ages of 14–20 were a critical period in which DDT exposure leads to increased risk. This study, which suggests a connection between DDT exposure and breast cancer that would not be picked up by most studies, has received variable commentary in third-party reviews. One review suggested that "previous studies that measured exposure in older women may have missed the critical period". The National Toxicology Program notes that while

3652-467: The balance of impurities in commercial samples. DDE and DDD are also the major metabolites and environmental breakdown products. DDT, DDE and DDD are sometimes referred to collectively as DDX. DDT has been formulated in multiple forms, including solutions in xylene or petroleum distillates , emulsifiable concentrates , water- wettable powders , granules, aerosols , smoke candles and charges for vaporizers and lotions. From 1950 to 1980, DDT

3735-413: The current system where covered risks are initially defined broadly in an "all risk" or "all sums" insuring agreement on a general policy form (e.g., "We will pay all sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages..."), then narrowed down by subsequent exclusion clauses (e.g., "This insurance does not apply to..."). If the insured desires coverage for a risk taken out by an exclusion on

3818-543: The dangers of using the pesticide DDT in agriculture. DDT had been researched and manufactured in St. Louis by the Michigan Chemical Corporation , later purchased by Velsicol Chemical Corporation , and had become an important part of the local economy. Citing research performed by Michigan State University in 1946, Robinson, a past president of the local Conservation Club, opined that: perhaps

3901-639: The disease in "North America, Europe, the former Soviet Union ", and in " Taiwan , much of the Caribbean , the Balkans , parts of northern Africa, the northern region of Australia, and a large swath of the South Pacific" and dramatically reduced mortality in Sri Lanka and India. However, failure to sustain the program, increasing mosquito tolerance to DDT, and increasing parasite tolerance led to

3984-542: The eggs of peregrine falcons and California condors and finding that increased levels corresponded with thinner shells. In response to an EDF suit, the U.S. District Court of Appeals in 1971 ordered the EPA to begin the de-registration procedure for DDT. After an initial six-month review process, William Ruckelshaus , the Agency's first Administrator rejected an immediate suspension of DDT's registration, citing studies from

4067-425: The environment and were endangering human health. Silent Spring was a best seller, and public reaction to it launched the modern environmental movement in the United States. The year after it appeared, President John F. Kennedy ordered his Science Advisory Committee to investigate Carson's claims. The committee's report "add[ed] up to a fairly thorough-going vindication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring thesis", in

4150-512: The former western German states. By 1991, total bans, including for disease control, were in place in at least 26 countries; for example, Cuba in 1970, the US in the 1980s, Singapore in 1984, Chile in 1985, and the Republic of Korea in 1986. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants , which took effect in 2004, put a global ban on several persistent organic pollutants , and restricted DDT use to vector control . The convention

4233-404: The greatest danger from D.D.T. is that its extensive use in farm areas is most likely to upset the natural balances, not only killing beneficial insects in great number but by bringing about the death of fish, birds, and other forms of wild life either by their feeding on insects killed by D.D.T. or directly by ingesting the poison. As its production and use increased, public response was mixed. At

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4316-508: The highest contamination levels, should be avoided. Other bottom-feeding fish, including kelp bass , rockfish , queenfish , black croaker , sheepshead , surfperches and sculpin , are also highly contaminated. As a part of the Superfund project, the EPA is looking to reinforce the commercial and recreational fishing ban on white croaker. Until as recently as 2007, bald eagles on Santa Catalina Island were unable to reproduce because

4399-509: The insured into a state of uncertainty and burdens the judiciary with the task of resolving it. We reiterate our plea for clarity and simplicity in policies that fulfill so important a public service. In the United States, property and casualty insurers typically use similar or even identical language in their standard insurance policies, which are drafted by advisory organizations such as the Insurance Services Office and

4482-542: The issue came to the attention of the popular naturalist-author Rachel Carson when a friend, Olga Huckins , wrote to her including an article she had written in the Boston Globe about the devastation of her local bird population after DDT spraying. William Shawn , editor of The New Yorker , urged her to write a piece on the subject, which developed into her 1962 book Silent Spring . The book argued that pesticides , including DDT, were poisoning both wildlife and

4565-493: The majority of studies have not found a relationship between DDT exposure and breast cancer that positive associations have been seen in a "few studies among women with higher levels of exposure and among certain subgroups of women". A 2015 case control study identified a link (odds ratio 3.4) between in-utero exposure (as estimated from archived maternal blood samples) and breast cancer diagnosis in daughters. The findings "support classification of DDT as an endocrine disruptor,

4648-933: The mosquitoes", to "toxic colonialism". Before DDT, eliminating mosquito breeding grounds by drainage or poisoning with Paris green or pyrethrum was sometimes successful. In parts of the world with rising living standards, the elimination of malaria was often a collateral benefit of the introduction of window screens and improved sanitation. A variety of usually simultaneous interventions represents best practice. These include antimalarial drugs to prevent or treat infection; improvements in public health infrastructure to diagnose, sequester and treat infected individuals; bednets and other methods intended to keep mosquitoes from biting humans; and vector control strategies such as larviciding with insecticides, ecological controls such as draining mosquito breeding grounds or introducing fish to eat larvae and indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides, possibly including DDT. IRS involves

4731-549: The ocean floor off the coast of Los Angeles . In addition, the company dumped hundreds of thousands of barrels containing waste laced with DDT at a deep sea site located between the California coast and Santa Catalina Island during the same time period. Some of the barrels were dumped considerably closer to the coast than the designated deep sea site, and many of the barrels were punctured beforehand to ensure that they would sink. In 2011 and 2013, Professor David Valentine and

4814-469: The policy at the time of delivery, as well as those written afterward as policy riders and endorsements ... with both parties' consent, are part of the written policy". The textbook also states that the policy must refer to all papers which are part of the policy. Oral agreements are subject to the parol evidence rule , and may not be considered part of the policy if the contract appears to be whole. Advertising materials and circulars are typically not part of

4897-489: The policy were covered; hence, those policies are now described as "individual" or "schedule" policies. This system of "named perils" or "specific perils" coverage proved to be unsustainable in the context of the Second Industrial Revolution , in that a typical large conglomerate might have dozens of types of risks to insure against. For example, in 1926, an insurance industry spokesman noted that

4980-610: The public health exemption. For example, in June 1979, the California Department of Health Services was permitted to use DDT to suppress flea vectors of bubonic plague . DDT continued to be produced in the United States for foreign markets until 1985, when over 300 tons were exported. In the 1970s and 1980s, agricultural use was banned in most developed countries, beginning with Hungary in 1968 – although in practice it continued to be used through at least 1970. This

5063-590: The pyrethrum was harder to access since it came mainly from Japan. Due to the potency of DDT, it was not long before America's War Production Board placed it on military supply lists in 1942 and 1943 and encouraged its production for overseas use. Enthusiasm regarding DDT became obvious through the American government's advertising campaigns of posters depicting Americans fighting the Axis powers and insects and through media publications celebrating its military uses. In

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5146-521: The region's food web . Medical researchers in 1974 found a measurable and significant difference in the presence of DDT in human milk between mothers who lived in New Brunswick and mothers who lived in Nova Scotia , "possibly because of the wider use of insecticide sprays in the past". Because of its lipophilic properties, DDT can bioaccumulate , especially in predatory birds . DDT

5229-451: The same policy forms, rather than different policies from different insurers. In recent years, however, insurers have increasingly modified the standard forms in company-specific ways or declined to adopt changes to standard forms. For example, a review of home insurance policies found substantial differences in various provisions. In some areas such as directors and officers liability insurance and personal umbrella insurance there

5312-471: The same time that DDT was hailed as part of the "world of tomorrow", concerns were expressed about its potential to kill harmless and beneficial insects (particularly pollinators ), birds, fish, and eventually humans. The issue of toxicity was complicated, partly because DDT's effects varied from species to species, and partly because consecutive exposures could accumulate, causing damage comparable to large doses. A number of states attempted to regulate DDT. In

5395-418: The shell gland and reduces the transport of calcium carbonate from blood into the eggshell gland. This results in a dose-dependent thickness reduction. Other evidence indicates that o,p'-DDT disrupts female reproductive tract development, later impairing eggshell quality. Multiple mechanisms may be at work, or different mechanisms may operate in different species. DDT is an endocrine disruptor . It

5478-734: The situation. Resistance was largely fueled by unrestricted agricultural use. Resistance and the harm both to humans and the environment led many governments to curtail DDT use in vector control and agriculture. In 2006 WHO reversed a longstanding policy against DDT by recommending that it be used as an indoor pesticide in regions where malaria is a major problem. Once the mainstay of anti-malaria campaigns, as of 2019 only five countries used DDT for Indoor Residual Spraying Insurance policy Insurance contracts are designed to meet specific needs and thus have many features not found in many other types of contracts. Since insurance policies are standard forms, they feature boilerplate language which

5561-403: The specific goal of enacting a ban on DDT. Victor Yannacone , Charles F. Wurster , Art Cooley and others in the group had all witnessed bird kills or declines in bird populations and suspected that DDT was the cause. In their campaign against the chemical, the EDF petitioned the government for a ban and filed lawsuits. Around this time, toxicologist David Peakall was measuring DDE levels in

5644-427: The standard form, the insured can sometimes pay an additional premium for an endorsement to the policy that overrides the exclusion. Insurers have been criticized in some quarters for the development of complex policies with layers of interactions between coverage clauses, conditions, exclusions, and exceptions to exclusions. In a case interpreting one ancestor of the modern "products-completed operations hazard" clause,

5727-480: The summer of 1972, Ruckelshaus announced the cancellation of most uses of DDT – exempting public health uses under some conditions. Again, this caused controversy. Immediately after the announcement, both the EDF and the DDT manufacturers filed suit against EPA. Many in the agricultural community were concerned that food production would be severely impacted, while proponents of pesticides warned of increased breakouts of insect-borne diseases and questioned

5810-420: The time of the insured's death is uncertain) or as to if it will happen at all (e.g. in a fire insurance policy, whether or not a fire will occur at all). Insurance contracts were traditionally written on the basis of every single type of risk (where risks were defined extremely narrowly), and a separate premium was calculated and charged for each. Only those individual risks expressly described or "scheduled" in

5893-671: The treatment of interior walls and ceilings with insecticides. It is particularly effective against mosquitoes, since many species rest on an indoor wall before or after feeding. DDT is one of 12 WHO–approved IRS insecticides. The WHO's anti-malaria campaign of the 1950s and 1960s relied heavily on DDT and the results were promising, though temporary in developing countries. Experts tie malarial resurgence to multiple factors, including poor leadership, management and funding of malaria control programs; poverty; civil unrest; and increased irrigation . The evolution of resistance to first-generation drugs (e.g. chloroquine ) and to insecticides exacerbated

5976-542: The treaty is arguably better than the status quo going into the negotiations. For the first time, there is now an insecticide which is restricted to vector control only, meaning that the selection of resistant mosquitoes will be slower than before." Despite the worldwide ban, agricultural use continued in India, North Korea, and possibly elsewhere. As of 2013, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 tons of DDT were produced for disease vector control , including 2,786 tons in India. DDT

6059-556: The water (however, its half-life in aquatic environments is listed by the National Pesticide Information Center as 150 years ). Its breakdown products and metabolites, DDE and DDD, are also persistent and have similar chemical and physical properties. DDT and its breakdown products are transported from warmer areas to the Arctic by the phenomenon of global distillation , where they then accumulate in

6142-478: The words of the journal Science , and recommended a phaseout of "persistent toxic pesticides". In 1965, the U.S. military removed DDT from the military supply system due in part to the development of resistance by body lice to DDT; it was replaced by lindane . DDT became a prime target of the growing anti-chemical and anti-pesticide movements, and in 1967 a group of scientists and lawyers founded Environmental Defense (later Environmental Defense Fund, EDF) with

6225-476: Was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds. Although Carson never directly called for an outright ban on the use of DDT, its publication was a seminal event for the environmental movement and resulted in a large public outcry that eventually led, in 1972, to a ban on DDT's agricultural use in the United States. Along with the passage of the Endangered Species Act , the United States ban on DDT

6308-418: Was abandoned in 1969 and attention instead focused on controlling and treating the disease. Spraying programs (especially using DDT) were curtailed due to concerns over safety and environmental effects, as well as problems in administrative, managerial and financial implementation. Efforts shifted from spraying to the use of bednets impregnated with insecticides and other interventions. By October 1945, DDT

6391-449: Was applied in sub-Saharan Africa by various colonial states, but the 'global' WHO eradication program didn't include the region. Mortality rates in that area never declined to the same dramatic extent, and now constitute the bulk of malarial deaths worldwide, especially following the disease's resurgence as a result of resistance to drug treatments and the spread of the deadly malarial variant caused by Plasmodium falciparum . Eradication

6474-505: Was available for public sale in the United States, used both as an agricultural pesticide and as a household insecticide. Although its use was promoted by government and the agricultural industry, US scientists such as FDA pharmacologist Herbert O. Calvery expressed concern over possible hazards associated with DDT as early as 1944. In 1947, Bradbury Robinson , a physician and nutritionist practicing in St. Louis, Michigan , warned of

6557-536: Was discovered by the Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller in 1939. DDT was used in the second half of World War II to limit the spread of the insect-borne diseases malaria and typhus among civilians and troops. Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods ". The WHO 's anti-malaria campaign of

6640-515: Was extensively used in agriculture – more than 40,000 tonnes each year worldwide  – and it has been estimated that a total of 1.8 million tonnes have been produced globally since the 1940s. In the United States, it was manufactured by some 15 companies, including Monsanto , Ciba , Montrose Chemical Company , Pennwalt , and Velsicol Chemical Corporation . Production peaked in 1963 at 82,000 tonnes per year. More than 600,000 tonnes (1.35 billion pounds) were applied in

6723-644: Was first conclusively proven at Bellow Island in Lake Michigan during University of Michigan -funded studies on American herring gulls in the mid-1960s. DDE-related eggshell thinning is considered a major reason for the decline of the bald eagle , brown pelican , peregrine falcon and osprey . However, birds vary in their sensitivity to these chemicals, with birds of prey , waterfowl and song birds being more susceptible than chickens and related species . Even in 2010, California condors that feed on sea lions at Big Sur that in turn feed in

6806-639: Was followed by Norway and Sweden in 1970, West Germany and the United States in 1972, but not in the United Kingdom until 1984. In contrast to West Germany, in the German Democratic Republic DDT was used until 1988. Especially of relevance were large-scale applications in forestry in the years 1982–1984, with the aim to combat bark beetle and pine moth . As a consequence, DDT-concentrations in eastern German forest soils are still significantly higher compared to soils in

6889-632: Was ratified by more than 170 countries. Recognizing that total elimination in many malaria-prone countries is currently unfeasible in the absence of affordable/effective alternatives, the convention exempts public health use within World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines from the ban. Resolution 60.18 of the World Health Assembly commits WHO to the Stockholm Convention's aim of reducing and ultimately eliminating DDT. Malaria Foundation International states, "The outcome of

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