Tag Archives: chemistry

Scrubbing is for the living.

Magazine ad for Sani-Flush found in the March 25, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
Magazine ad for Sani-Flush found in the March 25, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Looks like the original Sani-Flush was still being sold until 2009 or so. With its main ingredient being sodium bisulfate, when some people didn’t follow directions and mixed it with chlorine bleach (drain cleaners like Liquid-Plumr or Drano), it created chlorine gas, which can be fatal.

Grocery shopping in 1964 was much more exciting thanks to Sani-Flush!

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You down with DDT?

Yeah, you know me.

"Hey Mom! Can you spray my oatmeal with some more of that dee-licious DDT?" "Sure, Sweetie! Say when!" [spritz spritz spritz spritz...]
“Hey Mom! Can you spray my oatmeal with some more of that dee-licious DDT?” “Sure, Sweetie! Say when!” [spritz spritz spritz spritz…]
Du Pont (DuPont) magazine ad for DDT and other happy fun chemicals — Found in the April 1947 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
Du Pont (DuPont) magazine ad for DDT and other happy fun chemicals — Found in the April 1947 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

Fun facts:

DDT stands for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (also Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). And now you know why they called it DDT instead.

In 1955 alone, 500 million pounds of DTT was produced.

Some houseflies turned out to be resistant to DDT.

DDT got a dude a Nobel Prize.

And then there’s the whole thing about DDT and raptors and shell thinning and OMG they’re still fighting about that so I’m not going to link to anything about it.

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