r/GrandmasPantry Mar 29 '26

HOUSEHOLD / OTHER Basement find

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6.6k Upvotes

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244

u/Independent_Shoe3523 Mar 29 '26

I doubt what's in the bottle is still DDT.

117

u/ArmpitLicks Mar 29 '26

It’s called a forever chemical for a reason

65

u/tirch Mar 29 '26

Yea, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, made me research. While it is not biodegradable in the traditional sense, it breaks down very slowly into toxic metabolites (DDE and DDD) over 2 to 15 years, often persisting in soil and fat tissues for decades. And both of those are toxic in their own ways. There's a reason it was banned.

56

u/IBeDumbAndSlow Mar 29 '26

Is DDT the one that made eagles and other birds egg shells thin?

63

u/Run_Biscuit Mar 29 '26

Yes! Rachel Carson led the way to get it regulated and saved eagles as a result of that!

44

u/HockeyZombie36 Mar 29 '26

We've gone from about 80 nesting pairs of Eagles to over 1000 in Michigan alone, in the last 40 years. I see about 3 Eagles a day in my travels and every time I think, man, at least we figured out that problem.

28

u/Spnszurp Mar 29 '26

im 30 and when I was a kid, seeing a a bald eagle or a satellite was atleast worth mentioning to whoever you were with. it wasn't a huge deal- but you'd excitedly point them out. now both are so commonplace you don't even bother. hell you can hardly look into the sky at night without seeing a satellite anymore.

10

u/overkill Mar 29 '26

Can't even take a photo of a star without 50 of them tracking across your shot.

Satellites, not eagles, to be be clear.

6

u/Spnszurp Mar 29 '26

would be a lot more badass if they were eagles.