glossary

DDT (chlorophenothane, dicophane)

Definition DDT (chlorophenothane, dicophane)

DDT (chlorophenothane, dicophane)chol

DDT (chlorophenothane, dicophane) n. a powerful insecticide that has been in wide use for many years against lice, fleas, flies, bed bugs, cockroaches, and other disease-carrying and destructive insects. It is a relatively stable compound that is stored in animal fats, and the quantities now present in the environment - in the form of stores accumulated in animal tissues - raise the question of possible harmful effects on the body. Acute poisoning, from swallowing more than 20g, produces nervous irritability, muscle twitching, convulsions, and coma, but only a few fatalities have been reported.