DDT lingers in Michigan town

High levels of banned chemical found in birds, eggs

VANCOUVER — Decades after a chemical plant spewed DDT throughout St. Louis, Mich., the harmful insecticide lingers, reaching acutely toxic levels in birds and their eggs, researchers reported November 13 at the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Led by environmental toxicologist Matt Zwiernik of Michigan State University in East Lansing, researchers found that the town’s birds suffer from seizures and lesions, and had extremely low survival rates.