Michael Dourson: A true story about chemical risk and benefits
Michael L. Dourson, Ph.D., DABT, FATS, FSRA
Guest columnist
Our story is about a pesticide. People are often worried about pesticides because they are toxic chemicals. Pesticides are toxic, so that they can kill things — like bugs.
DDT is a bug spray. It was outlawed in many countries because once you spray it, DDT breaks down very slowly in the environment. Since it stays around for a long time, it moves up the food chain and when birds eat bugs sprayed with DDT the chemical causes their egg shells to become thin.]