DDT is a banned organochlorine insecticide. It has a low aqueous solubility, is relatively volatile and has a low potential to leach to groundwater. It is highly persistent in soil and non-mobile. It is moderately toxic by the oral route in humans and other mammals but is a carcinogen and endocrine disrupter. It shows a high to moderate level of toxicity to most animals and insects although it is relatively non-toxic to birds.
Hazard alerts
The following alerts are based on the data in the tables below. An absence of an alert does not imply the substance has no implications for human health, biodiversity or the environment but just that we do not have the data to form a judgement. These hazard alerts do not take account of usage patterns or exposure, thus do not represent risk.
Environmental fate
Ecotoxicity
Human health
Highly Hazardous Pesticide
Environmental fate High alert: Very persistent
Warning: Significant data are missing
Human health High alert: Endocrine disruptor; Reproduction/development effects; Neurotoxicant
Highly Hazardous Pesticide (HHP) Type I alert
Highly Hazardous Pesticide (HHP) Type II alert
GENERAL INFORMATION
Description
A minor isomer of the obsolete and banned insecticide that was used to control insect vectors of disease, especially malaria
Example pests controlled
Mosquitoes; Houseflies; Body lice; Colarado beetles; Gypsy moths
Example applications
Agricultural crops; Domestic houses; Offices, commercial and industrial situations; Non-cropped sites including roads, rights-of-way; parkland
Efficacy & activity
Not applicable
GB regulatory status
GB COPR regulatory status
Not approved
Date COPR inclusion expires
Not applicable
GB LERAP status
No UK approval for use as a plant protection agent
EC Regulation 1107/2009 (repealing 91/414)
EC Regulation 1107/2009 status
Not approved
Dossier rapporteur/co-rapporteur
Not applicable
Date EC 1107/2009 inclusion expires
Not applicable
EU Candidate for substitution (CfS)
Not applicable
Listed in EU database
Yes as DDT
Approved for use (✓) under EC 1107/2009 in the following EU Member States
ATAustria
BEBelgium
BGBulgaria
CYCyprus
CZCzech Republic
DEGermany
DKDenmark
EEEstonia
ELGreece
ESSpain
FIFinland
FRFrance
HRCroatia
HUHungary
IEIreland
ITItaly
LTLithuania
LULuxembourg
LVLatvia
MTMalta
NLNetherlands
PLPoland
PTPortugal
RORomania
SESweden
SISlovenia
SKSlovakia
Approved for use (✓) under EC 1107/2009 by Mutual Recognition of Authorisation and/or national regulations in the following EEA countries
EU Directive 2008/105/EC EQS for total DDT surface waters: annual average 0.025 µg l⁻¹ UK statutory standard for protection of aquatic life for inland, coastal & territorial surface waters: 0.025 µg l⁻¹ as annual mean conc
Forever chemical
-
Highly Hazardous Pesticide (HHP)
Type I
Yes [
C5 Criterion 5: Pesticide active ingredients listed by the Stockholm Convention in its Annexes A and B, and those meeting all the criteria in paragraph 1 of Annex D of the Convention (those identified as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in annexes A or B of the Stockholm Convention)
;
C6 Criterion 6: Pesticide active ingredients listed by the Rotterdam Convention in its Annex III (those subject to PIC (Prior Informed Consent) regulations under the Convention)
]
Type II
Yes [
R01 Rule 1: Pesticide active ingredients that meet the criteria of classes Ia or Ib of the WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard (or those with a CLP classification of H330)
;
R02 Rule 2: Pesticide active ingredients that meet the criteria of carcinogenicity Categories 1A and 1B of the Globally Harmonized System on Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) (those with a CLP classification of H350)
;
R05 Rule 5: Pesticide active ingredients that are confirmed endocrine disruptors according to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of an endocrine disruptor
;
R06 Rule 6: Pesticide active ingredients listed by the Stockholm Convention in its Annexes A and B, and those meeting all the criteria in paragraph 1 of Annex D of the Convention (those identified as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in annexes A or B of the Stockholm Convention)
;
R07 Rule 7: Pesticide active ingredients listed by the Rotterdam Convention in its Annex III (those subject to PIC (Prior Informed Consent) regulations under the Convention)
;
R11 Rule 11: Pesticide active ingredients that are environmentally persistent (where sediment phase only DT₅₀ => 90 days or water phase only DT₅₀ => 90 days or DT₅₀ (field) => 60 days (note lab values are used when field values are not available))
]
Other status information
LRTAP Annex I; PAN Dirty Dozen; Severe marine pollutant
Q3 Q = Miscellaneous data from online sources 3 = Unverified data of known source
Very persistent
DT₅₀ (field)
-
-
-
DT₉₀ (lab at 20 °C)
-
-
-
DT₉₀ (field)
-
-
-
DT₅₀ modelling endpoint
-
-
-
Note
-
Dissipation rate RL₅₀ (days) on plant matrix
Value
-
-
-
Note
-
Dissipation rate RL₅₀ (days) on and in plant matrix
Value
-
-
-
Note
-
Aqueous photolysis DT₅₀ (days) at pH 7
Value
-
-
-
Note
-
Aqueous hydrolysis DT₅₀ (days) at 20 °C and pH 7
Value
-
-
-
Note
-
Water-sediment DT₅₀ (days)
-
-
-
Water phase only DT₅₀ (days)
-
-
-
Sediment phase only DT₅₀ (days)
-
-
-
Air degradation
As this parameter is not normally measured directly, a surrogate measure is used: ‘Photochemical oxidative DT₅₀’. Where data is available, this can be found in the Fate Indices section below.
Decay in stored produce DT₅₀
-
Soil adsorption and mobility
Property
Value
Source; quality score; and other information
Interpretation
Linear
Kd (mL g⁻¹)
-
-
-
Koc (mL g⁻¹)
-
Notes and range
-
Freundlich
Kf (mL g⁻¹)
-
-
-
Kfoc (mL g⁻¹)
-
1/n
-
Notes and range
-
pH sensitivity
-
Fate indices
Property
Value
Source; quality score; and other information
Interpretation
GUS leaching potential index
-
-
-
SCI-GROW groundwater index (μg l⁻¹) for a 1 kg ha⁻¹ or 1 l ha⁻¹ application rate
Value
Cannot be calculated
-
-
Note
-
Potential for particle bound transport index
-
-
-
Potential for loss via drain flow
-
-
-
Photochemical oxidative DT₅₀ (hrs) as indicator of long-range air transport risk
Non-statutory WHO drinking water guideline 0.001 mg l⁻¹
B5 B = UK CRD and ACP Evaluation Documents / and other DEFRA (UK) documents; Also Chemicals Regulation Division, Health and Safety Executive (HSE), UK (click here ) 5 = Verified data used for regulatory purposes
UK EA QS database 2018
-
Drinking Water MAC (μg l⁻¹)
-
-
-
Mammalian dose elimination route and rate
Mainly excreted in the urine but some also occurs by way of faeces (via biliary excretion)
R4 R = Peer reviewed scientific publications 4 = Verified data
-
Health issues
Specific human health issues (hazard-based)
Carcinogen
Genotoxic
Endocrine disruptor
?Possibly, status not identified
A0 A = Chromosome aberration (EFSA database) 0 = No data
;
B0 B = DNA damage/repair (EFSA database) 0 = No data
;
C0 C = Gene mutation (EFSA database) 0 = No data
;
D0 D = Genome mutation (EFSA database) 0 = No data
;
E2 E = Unspecified genotoxicity type (miscellaneous data source) 2 = Mixed/ambiguous results
✓Yes, known to cause a problem
Reproduction / development effects
Acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor
Neurotoxicant
✓Yes, known to cause a problem
No data found
✓Yes, known to cause a problem
Respiratory tract irritant
Skin irritant
Skin sensitiser
No data found
No data found
No data found
Eye irritant
Phototoxicant
No data found
No data found
General human health issues
Toxic by ingestion, inhalation and via skin absorption Xenoestrogen agent Mutagenic Endocrine issues - Competitive binding to androgen receptors CLP data - suspected carcinogen
Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J., Warner, D. and Green, A. (2016) An international database for pesticide risk assessments and management. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 22(4), 1050-1064. DOI: 10.1080/10807039.2015.1133242
Environmental fate
Warning:
