Not Too Hot To Handle 49 



0.015 pound). Judging from the experiments above with 

 rats and mice as the test animals, a man could safely eat a lot 

 more DDT than this. Apparently the cats could have toler- 

 ated, without discomfort, many times the quantity of DDT 

 they were given. 



For the dog lover, we have the experiment in which two 

 dogs were fed 5 grams of a 5 % DDT mixture per day for 

 each 5 to 6 kilograms of body weight over a period of 31 

 days, with no sign of poisoning to man's best friend. This 

 quantity figures out to be about 3.1 grams of actual DDT per ■ 

 day for a 150-pound man, or about 100 grams — slightly less ' 

 than /4 pound — for the 31 -day period. 



The sheep-like individual can take heart in the tests 

 carried out on one of the members of this gentle tribe at the 

 University of Southern California. This placid creature was 

 fed, along with his regular food, 2 grams of DDT per day for 

 1 1 days, 4 grams per day for the next 40 days, and then 8 

 grams per day for the next two weeks. He thrived on the 

 diet! 



The results of these and many other experiments show 

 what? Simply this: The quantity of DDT required to kill 

 a person, or even to make him sick, is very great. Although 

 everyone should have sense enough not to use an insect spray 

 where it might contaminate food, it is highly improbable that 

 eventEe most careless person could possibly get enough DDT 

 on his food to endanger his health. Certainly DDT is much 

 less toxic to warm-blooded animals than are many of the 

 common agricultural inseaicides, such as the arsenicals, and 

 lead and fluorine compounds. 



Will DDT Poison Warm- Blooded Animals? 



It would be a gross mistake to leave one with the im- 



