During which decades was DDT widely used?

DDT, or dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, was widely used primarily from the 1940s through the 1970s. After World War II, it became popular as an agricultural pesticide and for control of vector-borne diseases like malaria and typhus. The use of DDT increased significantly in the post-war era due to its effectiveness and low cost, leading to widespread application in both agricultural and public health contexts.

By the 1970s, however, the detrimental environmental and health effects of DDT began surfacing, prompting a growing movement for its regulation and eventual ban in many countries, including the United States, by 1972. Thus, the designation of the 1940s to the 1970s as the peak usage period accurately reflects DDT's history and its transition from a widely accepted agricultural tool to a substance of concern for human health and environmental impact.