13 years ago I did an episode tackling the thorny problem of DDT, the pesticide

that's well known for killing mosquitoes to eradicate malaria, but equally well known for its

its terrible effects on bird populations.

Let's just say it was not among the favorite episodes.

Even more than a decade later still drawing shade.

What was wrong with the episode and how has the DDT situation changed in those years? We're going to find out right now on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com

DDT 13 years later.

Welcome to the show that separates fact from fiction, science from pseudoscience, real history from fake history, and helps us all make better life decisions by knowing what's real and what's not.

This might be the first time you've ever heard me do a follow-up episode on the same topic as a previous episode,

which was DDT Secret life of a pesticide,

episode number 230 from 2010.

It was about the controversial pesticide DDT,

controversial in that while it is a powerful tool

for eradicating mosquitoes to reduce human deaths

from malaria, it does so at the cost

of polluting the environment with a compound that causes

birds egg shells to be too thin. The eggs do not survive and bird populations are

severely impacted.

As a result, DDT was banned in most of the world,

with exceptions being made for places where malaria deaths were the worst.

It turned out to be by far my most controversial episode,

...