The Beginnings of DDT

In 1948, Dr. Paul Muller received the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery of DDT’s toxic effect on insects. Tiny amounts of this chemical could kill a large amount of insects and studies showed that it was not very toxic for plants or animals. It was first put to use in 1939 to wipe out the Colorado potato beetle that was destroying Switzerland’s potato crop. It was then used successfully to protect soldiers from mosquitoes, body lice, and other disease spreading insects. DDT had proven to be exactly what Muller had been looking for.

Dr. Muller had been working in the dye division of the J. R. Geigy Corporation researching natural products to be used as pigments and tanning agents for leather. He was researching this until 1935 when he was assigned to develop an insecticide. He was looking for a compound that would have a rapid potent toxicity for the most species of insect; that would be stable enough to last long periods of time; and that would cause little or no damage to plants and animals. DDT satisfied all of Muller’s requirements and it was thought to be an ideal insecticide, until people realized it was being overused and because of the chemical’s persistence, there was too much of it in the environment. This created a hazard to animal life and spurred people like Rachel Carson to fight and have DDT banned.