"Introduction of synthetic pesticides, 1943–1954: The Danish market and public regulation"

In the late 1930s, with Germany’s chemical industry at the fore, knowledge of new synthetic pesticides began to develop and quickly spread to chemical industries in other countries. By the years of World War II, DDT was already being used to exterminate flies in stables, and a few years later, the highly effective parathion (Bladan) was introduced.
Stories of the new chemical super-agents circulated rapidly. Not only did farmers and gardeners quickly receive word of pending advancements, but rumours also spread to ordinary people with villa gardens. Despite such promise and praise, however, no one yet realised the drawbacks also possessed by the new products.
This presentation, describing the development of the market for pesticides, showcases the entry of the most important chemical substances on the market thanks to international giants such as Geigy, Bayer and ICI. At the same time, Danish production arose at companies.
The Danish state had long been active in supporting the use of pesticides, namely in the Ministry of Agriculture. Since 1913, the State Plant Pathology Experiments has tested new agents, often followed by consulting services for increased use.
Analysing new chemical substances became a recurring problem with the ever-innovative chemical industry and a slow-working state bureaucracy. Only thanks to funds for measuring instruments from the Marshall Plan could the Chemical Control keep pace with the booming technical development.
Legislation sought to keep pace as well. In 1954, conditions for the Danish market were further tightened as was the approval of funds for evaluating Toxicological Board. With that development, the first hectic year of synthetic drugs ended and the heyday of drugs dawned, during which agriculture became readily able to support fields without weeds and deliver apples without scab.