Agricultural Support

  The growing of crops in different farming regions to feed the masses owes its potential greatly to harnessing the power of chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, etc. Although in general we tend to think of the benefits of pesticides, there are a number of issues associated with their use that go well beyond their ability to promote the cultivation and availability of food. For example, DDT (Figure 1.1) is a chemical that has seen much use in the US. Over the period of 1950 to 1980, it was used in agriculture at the rate of more than 40,000 tons each year worldwide and it has been estimated that a total of 1.8 million tons have been produced around the world since the 1940s. In the United States, it was manufactured by numerous companies including Monsanto, Ciba, Montrose Chemical Company, and Pennwalt. More than 600,000 tons (1.35 billion pounds) were applied in the US before it was banned in 1972.

Figure 1.1 : Shown above is a chemical representation of DDT or DicholoroDiphenylTrichloroethane, a colorless, crystalline, tasteless and nearly odorless organochlorine compound that displays insecticidal properties with huge environmental impacts. DDT has been formulated in multiple forms that include solutions in xylene or petroleum distillates, emulsifiable concentrates, water-wettable powders, including solutions in vaporizers and lotions.