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Post-war years ushered in age of DDT pesticide
By Bill Kemp
Archivist/Librarian
McLean County Museum of History
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It was the miracle pesticide of the age, sprayed on everything imaginable, from crops, livestock and pets to screen windows, mattresses and blankets. | From Our Past page

After World War II, the Corn Belt embraced the chemical known as DDT, and for the better part of the next two decades, its use was both widespread and unchallenged.

Today, we look upon the indiscriminate use of chemicals with a jaundiced eye. Such was not the case in the mid-20th century.

In 1939, Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller synthesized a chlorinated hydrocarbon known by its abbreviated name DDT, and it proved effective in killing houseflies, the Colorado potato beetle, and even lice carried by World War II refugees. The U.S. military used DDT to control malaria in the Pacific Theater and typhoid outbreaks in Europe, most spectacularly in Naples, Italy.

DDT was trumpeted as one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century. At the war’s end, the U.S. government approved its unrestricted use, and it became, according to one authority on the history of DDT, “by far the most widely and heavily used chemical pesticide through the 1950s.”

Introduced here just after war

Locally, the pesticide hit the market Sept. 5, 1945, less than a month after the surrender of Japan. The Pantagraph noted that a DDT-treated blanket could be washed five or six times and still kill moths, and that mattresses sprayed once with the stuff could kill bedbugs over a nine-month period.

In 1947, a number of McLean County farmers participated in DDT trials, including O.L. DeVore, who worked on the Lexington-area stock farm of Almo Franklin.

“We dusted our corn with DDT, by airplane, to protect it from borers,” he said. “Some of the DDT dust drifted from the nearby cornfield over around the house and lawn. The protection was so good that Mr. Franklin commented that screens may not be needed when we form the habit of using DDT regularly to control insects.”

Yet even during the early, heady days of the DDT craze, there were warnings.

In September 1945, G.C. Decker, entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, cautioned against the “promiscuous use” of the pesticide. He noted that it killed indiscriminately, and thus posed a danger to beneficial insects such as pollinating bees. It also proved to be highly toxic to cold-blooded animals, such as fish and snakes, as well as some mammals, like cats.

Demonstrations around county

In late May 1948, McLean County Farm Adviser Eugene Mosbacher organized seven DDT spraying demonstrations, including one at the Illinois State Normal University farm, located where Hancock Field stands today. Other demonstration sites included Dewey Varboncouer’s farm three miles north of LeRoy, and Otto Schaefer’s home on the George Parker farm northeast of Saybrook.

Mosbacher’s demonstration coincided with a McLean County fly control campaign. W.J. Broad of the McLean County Health Department explained that flies helped spread typhoid, infantile paralysis (polio) and dysentery. Urban and rural residents alike were asked to spray all fly breeding areas, such as garbage cans and outhouses, with DDT.

At this time, DDT-related advertisements filled the farm pages of The Pantagraph. “The corn borer may or may not be with us this year! However, we have 300 tons of DDT dust ready,” read a Miller Hatchery and Farm Store advertisement. The business sold an array of DDT products, such as DuPont 50 percent DDT for dairy barns and other outbuildings, and C.C.C. Powder with 10 percent DDT to kill roaches, ants, fleas, bedbugs and lice.

Biological effects

Over time — given the misuse and abuse of DDT — insect populations began developing increased resistance. Even more ominous was the “biological magnification” of DDT as it worked its way up the food chain.

Most infamously, this wrought havoc with the reproductive cycles of certain bird species, primarily through the thinning of eggshells. DDT, it was learned, was the primary culprit in the rapid decline of the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, osprey and others, as well as the near-extinction of the California condor.

In 1962, nature writer Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring,” detailed the impact of DDT on the environment. Today, its publication is regarded as a seminal event in the emergence of the environmental movement.

On Jan. 1, 1970, the state of Illinois halted the sale and use of DDT, and three years later, the federal government banned most domestic uses of what was once known as the miracle pesticide.

Today, DDT is still used to control malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and other poor corners of the globe. It remains controversial, though, with certain public health officials advocating its increased use, while environmentalists call for what they believe is a long-overdue global ban.

Take a look
On May 30, 1948, about 200 farmers attended a DDT spraying program at the ISNU farm. They are seen here examining some of the 20 different spraying rigs put on display. (Pantagraph file photo)
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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

icbm53 wrote on May 14, 2008 11:43 AM:

" There are other ways to control Malaria. Why not start Dragon Fly farms all over Malaria ridden countries? All these critters do is "EAT Mosquitoes!" Problem solved! Spraying poison (DDT) is only a short term answer! What will these poor people's lives be like in 40 or 50 years? Not sure? I can tell you what my life has been like since my, supposed bout with Polio at 6 months old! I have lived with almost every chronic disease known to man! Now I'm a burden on society with Social Security Disablity payments. When will people realize toxins are bad for US! "

mel wrote on May 4, 2008 10:59 AM:

" Senior Lady, there weren't any side-effects for people, and the impact on birds was arguable. What is not arguable is that Rachel Carson, William Ruckleshaus, and the rest of the environmentalists caused the deaths of millions in Africa due to malaria.

One has to ask, how many African children is a bald eagle worth? "

Dave wrote on May 4, 2008 9:55 AM:

" The same people who pushed DDT as a harmless, safe product are saying the same thing about Roundup products.
Anyone ready for a bowl of roundup ready corn? "

mot wrote on May 4, 2008 8:15 AM:

" Ignorance and fear are still present today as we look at the chemical world. People are always looking for the silver bullet to cure problems and then use it blindly. How many people have died needlessly from malaria becuause of our fear and lack of understanding? "

dt wrote on May 4, 2008 6:31 AM:

" Silent Spring was full of hyperbole and errors. Millions and millions of people have died because of the DDT ban. But better a 1000 people than 1 bird, in some's eyes. "

senior lady wrote on May 3, 2008 11:49 PM:

" I recall as a teenager after the end of World War II, the apartment we lived in on the north side of Chicago was sprayed and sprayed and sprayed with DDT because of bedbugs and cockroaches. It seemed as a wonderful answer to bugs. I have never had any side effects, yet, but I wonder how many people have. What seemed as a bonanza turned into a nightmare. "
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