Hansen's D.D.T. Insect Spray

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D.D.T. insecticide was banned in New Zealand in 1989, after increasing evidence that its residue remained in the biological food chain for many years, threatening bird and aquatic life in particular.

It was used extensively in New Zealand from the 1940s-1980s, to control grass grub in pastures and as this radio advertisement shows, was also popular to control insect pests in homes.

Image: Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, 29 October 1947 (courtesy of Papers Past).