DDT

Abbreviation for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.

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diastolic deceleration time; dichloro-diphenyltrichloroethane; ductus deferens tumor; dynamic data table

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DDT .dē-(.)dē-'tē n a colorless odorless water-insoluble crystalline insecticide C₁₄H₉Cl₅ that tends to accumulate in ecosystems and has toxic effects on many vertebrates called also chlorophenothane, dicophane

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n.

a powerful insecticide that was formerly widely used against lice, fleas, flies, bed bugs, cockroaches, and other disease-carrying and destructive insects. It is a relatively stable compound that is stored in animal fats, and the quantities now present in the environment - in the form of stores accumulated in animal tissues - have led to its use being restricted. Acute poisoning, from swallowing more than 20 g, produces nervous irritability, muscle twitching, convulsions, and coma, but only a few fatalities have been reported.

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dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, a chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide that is moderately toxic; it was formerly widely used but is now banned in the United States except for a few specialized purposes because of the ecological damage it causes.