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Health Hazards of Economic Poisons and Related Substances¹

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, approved June 25, 1947, (61 Stat. 163) defines economic poison as "...any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, fungi, weeds, and other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living man or other animals. . ."

This definition encompasses a multitude of chemical agents of signal value to public health and agriculture. The array of effective new chemicals for the control of zoological vectors and reservoirs of human disease has been one of the most spectacular developments of the past decade.

There is no question but that the phenomenal growth in the use of economic poisons has saved millions from the ravages of malaria, typhus, plague, dysentery, and certain other diseases of zoological origin and has enabled the world to produce more food than otherwise would have been possible.

¹ From Technical Development Services, Savannah, Ga. of the Communicable Disease Center, Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency, Atlanta, Ga.

² Scientist Director.