COURTESY TODD SHIPYARDS, COMBUSTION EQUIPMENT DIVISION
Thermal Aerosol Insecticide Fogging a t Jones Beach, Long Island
SYIMPOSIUM ON INSECTICIDES IN FOOD PRODUCTION Presented before t h e Division of Agricultural a n d Food‘ C h e m i s t r y at t h e 112th Meeting of t h e American Chemical Society, New Y o r k , N . Y .
Introduction
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Joseph M. Ginsburg Agricultural E x p e r i m e n t S t a t i o n , R u t g e r s U n i v e r s i t y , N e w B r u n s w i c k , N . J I
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standing entomologists on the practical application of insecticides would be of interest in addition to papers on the chemistry of insecticides. Accordingly, the purpose of the symposium is t o survey the insecticide field and t o assemble our present knowledge on the chemical control of insect pests in food production. The food products are grouped growing livestock,and food in Storage. Each group is separately discussed by specialists. I n
N ACCEPTANCE of the invitation ‘from the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry t o arrange a program for this symposium for presentation before the 112th Meeting of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, i t was felt t h a t discussions by out“Determination of the Gammrt-Isomer Content of Benzene Hexachloride,” by Bowen and Poporelskin, also presented at the Symposium on Insecticides in Food Production, will appear in the April issue of Analytkal Chemistry.
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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Vol. 40, No. 4
arranging the symK a r I1 were the posium, efforts were arsenicals, fluorinc made to secure compounds, varicontributors repreous petroleum dissenting all branches t i l l a t e s , cyanide of the insecticide c o m p o u n d s , pyfield from federal rethrum, rotenone, agencies, state agrip -dichlorobenzene, cultural experiment nicotine, and nistations, and trated derivatives industry. of phenols. It should not be During the war, assumed, however, partly because of t h a t all questions the shortage of ran pertaining to inmaterials for presecticides will be paring insecticides, fully answered durand partly because ing this symposium. the old insecticides Many uncertainties proved inefficient will undoubtedly in military field use, remain. It is hoped investigations for. these unsolved n e w i n s e ct i c i d e s p r o b l e m s will were prosecuted a t stimulate the inan unparalleled terest of chemists pace by federal in further research N . J COUNTY MOSQUITO E X T E R M I N A T I O N COMMISSIONS agencies, state exin the field of inMotorcycle Equipment for Insecticidal Treatment of Catch Basins in periment stations, secticides. Towns and Cities The damage and industry. Syncaused by insects thetic organic to food products in the United States is conservatively estichemicals proved a fruitful field in this search. Research in new insecticides has reached a high peak among mated at about 2 billion dollars annually. Only by the extensive use of insecticides, properly and timely applied, can chemists, entomologists, and industrialists. Present emphasis they be partially controlled. Millions of pounds of various on the long range importance of these investigations will eventually lead to a better understanding and newer knowledge in insect toxic chemicals are used every year t o keep them in check; the insecticide industry in the United States totals well over toxicology. The relationship between chemical structure and toxicity fascinates the imagination of the chemist engaged in $50,000,000. toxicological studies, and a clearer understanding of this most inInsecticides are generally grouped, corresponding to the feeding habits of insects, into the following main classes: teresting biochemical relation not only will add triumph to our scientific achievements in the knowledge of toxicology, but \+-ill 1. Stomach poisons or internal insecticides. These are apalso open avenues for further research in the development of plied on plants to kill chewing insects such as caterpillars, beetles, highly potent insecticides. grasshoppers, and similar pests. The insects eat the leaves or The future holds challenges that the chemist and entomologist fruit together with the insecticide which may be present on t h e have not yet begun to meet. The publicity given t o insect control surface. The food is taken in by mouth and digested in t h e during the war has made the public insect-extermination conalimentary canal. During the digestion process the insecticide scious. I t demands and justly so, complete freedom from insect is completely or partly dissolved and absorbed into the insect pests. Partial control is not a satisfactory solution; total extissue. termination should be our objective. Whether this can be ac2. Contact poisons or external insecticides. These are used complished by one ideal insecticidal agent t h a t would destroy primarily against sucking insects, such as aphids, leaf hoppers, only those insects considered injurious to human welfare or by thrips, mealy bugs, and similar pests. The insects cannot take groups of insecticides developed specifically for destroying one in solid food by mouth but possess a beak or similar organ by particular species of undesirable insects, only future research which they pierce living tissue and suck sap from plants or blood will prove. The latest developments in insecticides indicate that from animals. T o be effective the insecticide must be in contact we have reached the threshold of the mastery of insect control. with the insect and penetrate through its spiracles or other vulInsects which could never before be adequately controlled are nerable parts of the body. succumbing to the newly developed insecticides. 3. Fumigants. These are used t o destroy insects, either chewDiscussion of this symposium would be incomplete without ing or sucking, which attack stored products or infest large, grateful acknowledgment of the wholehearted cooperation of closed spaces such as granaries, mills, and ships. An effective L. E. Clifcorn, secretary of the Division of Agricultural and Food fumigant must be volatile enough to produce a lethal concentraChemistry, B. L. Oser, chairman of the division, and C. L. tion of vapor in a closed space, or within a short distance from Smith, technical adviser to the Agricultural Insecticide and the source of application. Fungicide Association in organizing the symposium. An exI n addition t o toxicity, an insecticide must possess certain pression of gratitude is also due R. C. Roark, who presided, and physicochemical properties to control insects efficiently: miscithe authors who, with very few exceptions, promptly accepted bility, spreading, penetration, wetting, and adhesion are all imthe invitation to participate, and have been generous in sharing portant. The insecticides are applied in various forms, such as with us their knowledge of the subject. dusts, liquid sprays dissolved in suitable solvents, oil emulsions, water suspensions, and aerosols. RECEIVEDNovember 22, 1947. Paper of the Journal Series, S e w Jersey Among the outstanding insecticides used prior to Tl’orld Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N. J. ~
