The discovery of DDT, the first synthetic organic insecticide, besides giving Paul Mueller, in 1948, the Nobel Prize of Physiology and Medicine, started the age of organochlorine pesticides. After the appearance of DDT, there has been an ever increasing number of pesticides available on the market. Despite the benefits, the indiscriminate use of this substance created serious ecological problems. Currently it is estimated that the percentage of living beings, vegetables and animals, that remain uncontaminated, is relatively low. This article focuses on the serious problem of contamination created by organochlorides, as well as the attemps to solve these problems.
Organochloride; persistence; contamination; toxicity