DDT was initially introduced into the environment as a pesticide, which was sprayed on crops. After the discovery that DDT also was an excellent and fairly inexpensive deterrent of mosquitoes that carry malaria and yellow fever, DDT was introduced into malarial areas all over the world. Although the inclusion of DDT into the environment saved millions of lives, the use of the pesticide was banned during the sixties and early seventies in many countries due to the harmful effects it had on worms, fish, and predatory birds. DDT kills insects by a process of closing off sodium channels in neurons, which consequently leads to paralysis in the animal which ingests the insect. It has also been assumed that child mortality rates have decreased as a result of the cessation of DDT use. Although DDT is an effective insecticide for crops, the human benefit of not using it ultimately prevails.
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