Africa: Set for ban, DDT lingers in battle against malaria

Few poisons have ridden such a roller coaster through environmental history as DDT. Once hailed as a miracle pesticide, DDT is outlawed as one of a "Dirty Dozen" chemicals as of Monday, even as it stays in use as a controversial spray against malaria-spreading mosquitoes. The man who discovered its power to kill insects won a Nobel Prize in 1948, while shock at its damage to wildlife awoke a global environmental movement in the 1960s. Into the 21st century, countries including South Africa and Ethiopia still swear by DDT to combat malaria, which kills a million people a year.