Not Too Hot To Handle 59 



permit their passage through the minute pores of the body's 

 barrier. 



But when we come to solutions of DDT in organic sol- 

 vents, the picture is somewhat different, for there is at least a 

 possibility that some organic solvents can diffuse through the 

 skin. Solvents such as gasoline, kerosene, benzene, chloro- 

 form, and acetone are capable of dissolving oils and waxes. 

 Because of this property, it is possible that they could gradual- 

 ly diffuse through the skin. Of course, if there is some DDT 

 dissolved in the solvent, it would accompany the solvent on 

 its journey. 



But let's try to separate some of the fact from the fiction. 

 To merely state that DDT dissolved in organic solvents can 

 be absorbed by the skin, without giving some idea of how 

 much can be absorbed and what effect it has on the body, 

 simply scares people without doing them any good. As for 

 the facts: It is possible to produce symptoms of DDT poison- 

 ing in experimental animals by treating their skins with solu- 

 tions of DDT in organic solvents for sufficiently long periods 

 of time. But, there is as yet no evidence that human beings 

 have ever been poisoned in this manner. 



Laboratory workers are curious individuals: they often 

 get tired of working on little animals and, to break the 

 monotony or to get an answer that their guinea pigs couldn't 

 give, they try their concoaions on themselves. In the spirit 

 of scientific curiosity, research men have soaked cotton wicks 

 in concentrated DDT solutions and stuck them on their arms 

 for twenty-four hours. The results: no irritation, burning, 

 or toxic reactions. And even the authors of this book have 

 kept their hands and arms to the elbows covered with a 5 % 

 DDT-kerosene solution for several hours and could notice no 

 sign of irritation or toxicity. And when one considers that 



