54 DDT— Killer of Killers 



on a dark night — to a sweet young thing one jump ahead of 

 the wolf pack. But before we leave the subject, just one 

 more word — if you want to feed your skin, the only way to 

 do it is by feeding the rest of your body, preferably by means 

 of a thick steak, if you can get one. 



Why, then, all the fear of dire results when DDT solu- 

 tions are spilled on the skin? Can DDT penetrate the skin? 

 And if so, how much? And what does it do when it does 

 penetrate? 



DDT Crashes the Barrier 



If talcum powder passed through the skin and entered 

 the body, much of the female population of the world would 

 weigh a whole lot more than it does — unfortunately — at pres- 

 ent. And the coal miner would have such a black interior 

 that when he cut himself, a black, inky fluid would drip forth. 

 No, dusts and powders cannot penetrate the skin! And 

 DDT dusts and powders, or even pure DDT, are no excep- 

 (tions. That is why DDT powders can be safely sprinkled 

 inside one's underwear to disturb the life of the crawling 

 louse. And that is why a bed sprayed with a solution of 

 DDT to kill bedbugs is perfectly safe to sleep in after the 

 solvent has evaporated, leaving the crystals of DDT behind. 



Let us now turn to sprays consisting of DDT dispersed 

 in water. Are they dangerous to the skin? Absolutely not! 

 When you go swimming, you don't become water logged — 

 because water doesn't penetrate the skin. And even if water 

 did penetrate to some extent, water dispersions of DDT would 

 present no hazard, for the water could not carry the DDT 

 with it, since DDT does not dissolve in water and the size of 

 the DDT particles in a water suspension is much too great to 



