DDT

Science & Engineering abbreviation · Chemistry

DDT
Stands forDichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
CategoriesScience & Engineering

DDT stands for Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, a chemistry abbreviation.

Synthetic insecticide used massively from the 1940s to control mosquitoes, lice and crop pests, helping eliminate malaria from many regions. It persists in the environment and concentrates up food chains, thinning the eggshells of birds of prey, and most agricultural use was banned in the 1970s.

Example: Bald eagle populations recovered after the 1972 US ban on DDT.

Usage notes

First synthesized in 1874, DDT's insecticidal power was discovered by Paul Hermann Müller in 1939, earning him the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring drew public attention to its ecological effects. The Stockholm Convention still permits limited indoor spraying against malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

More chemistry abbreviations

  • CFC – Chlorofluorocarbon
  • CH4 – Methane
  • CO – Carbon monoxide
  • CO2 – Carbon dioxide
  • conc. – Concentrated
  • DCM – Dichloromethane
  • DFT – Density functional theory
  • DI – Deionized (water)
  • DMF – Dimethylformamide
  • DMSO – Dimethyl sulfoxide
  • DSC – Differential scanning calorimetry
  • EDTA – Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

See all 106 chemistry abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.