That said this ad sure does oversell the stuff and fear-monger without proof. I’m sure little of this wall-paper went to equatorial regions or fought much malaria.

If these were still around to buy, it would make a lot of sense to buy them up, and ship to sub-saharan Africa and other regions where malaria is still killing thousands every year.

The idea of DDT wallpaper for malarial regions is pretty good, as it doesn’t enter the environment until the paper is removed, which is good since it can be destroyed and the DDT with it. Beats the Hell out of spraying pesticides. It’s probably a better idea to put it out of reach on the ceiling, though.

But, here’s the kicker. With perhaps only the exception of Bedbugs, most other bugs (esp Roaches) grew very resistant to DDT. More and more and more had to be sprayed with less and less effect. However, the damage to birds was real. The Bald Eagle was facing extinction. Might be good to find some DDT for baseboard spraying in a bedbug infestation to test it with, but if they put it back on the shelves, wouldn’t be a day before some yuppie jogger carried it with him to spray the “Nature run” so bugs wouldn’t bite him.

I was a little kid back then. I remember getting scolded for handling wild bird eggshells my parents (and/or friends) saved for “University collection” and they’d just fallen apart in my hands like powder. Holding the same kind of eggs these days, I’d have to hit them against something to break them though I’m far stronger.

It’s kind of like “lake Eerie” that used to catch fire. There used to be a ton of visible pollution and quite noticeable effects. The laws passed decades ago did a great help reducing them. However, the good they did is now used against them by the “Climate Change Deniers” who are used by the companies that hate having to obey the rules to deny that there ever was any significant man-made effects on the environment.

In fact, the case against DDT is not such an open and shut thing – for instance, in 1960 or so, Sri Lanka started a heavy spraying campaign, lowering incidence of malaria from 3 million per year to 29. One can make the argument that DDT has saved the lives of countless numbers of the poorest people in the world, and it’s condemnation has killed many.

On the other hand, mosquitoes do develop a resistance to it, and it does contaminate the environment, showing up for instance in mother’s milk.

All things considered, limited spraying on walls/insertion in wallpaper in less developed countries is probably a reasonable way to balance its efficacy and low cost with environmental concerns.

I don’t really have any relevant to add to this discussion. Just a surprising amount of Nostalgia.

See also the comments about relatively low toxicity to humans and the ongoing (and successful) use of DDT in a similar fashion in developing nations.

Or perhaps you’d rather have parents in developing nations watch their children die of malaria and encephalitis. Now THERE’s some compassion.

Here’s an interesting op-ed from the WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113141500661590763.html

Should DDT Be Used to Combat Malaria?
DDT should be used “with caution” in combating malaria, a panel of scientists reported today

Science!

Kinda like the Winston ads featuring the Flintstones, or fiberglass advertised for kitchen drapes?

Kinda like those posters at BB so unfamiliar with the basics of irony and postmodern deconstruction that their every appearance has to come with an explanation?

THEY DIDN’T KNOW.

No, I didn’t turn out to be a hippie, I was too young.

If used right, like this, DDT is beneficial. No environmental bad is this cartoonishly bad, with the possible exception of Agent Orange.

(Please note: I’m not saying that NOBODY knew…but the average public and the average wallpaper salesman DIDN’T KNOW.)

My parents (and scores of other parents of my generation) smoked like chimneys — our mothers while they were pregnant, and around us all the time. My dad apologized to me one day as I came home from an allergist — that when I was little they had no idea that secondhand smoke often initiates allergies in small children…and that had they had any inkling that their habit would become allergies that my sister and I have to live with, they’d have both quit cold turkey on the spot.

Sometimes, no….they didn’t know.

Just look at it.

Realistically, the DDT in this wallpaper is probably less harmful that the chemicals in the plastic bottle you give your baby.

Let me make it simple:
Massive DDT use on crops: bad.

But I guess no-one is going to get past the “OMG! CHEMISTRY” hysteria people have nowadays.