A farm pond near Morrison, Colorado, was treated with 0.02 p.p.m. of DDT in June 1961. The persistence and distribution of the insecticide in materials sampled from the aquatic environment were studied until November 1962. Detectable amounts of DDT were not found in the water after 3 weeks. Residues in the mud had declined within 8 weeks after the treatment to levels not significantly higher than pre-treatment levels, but a sample of vegetation still contained relatively high levels of residues. From this time until the second summer, sufficient vegetation was not present to provide a sample for chemical analysis. A new crop of vegetation sampled 1 year after the treatment contained residues approximating pre-treatment levels. Fish accumulated 3 to 4 p.p.m. of DDT and its metabolites within 1 month after the treatment. The residue levels slowly declined after this, but when the study was terminated, 2 to 3 p.p.m. of the metabolites DDD and DDE still remained in the fish. The highest residue levels measured in crayfish were about one-half of those found in fish. Some mortality of the more susceptible fish and invertebrates occurred as a result of the DDT treatment; however, severe adverse effects were not demonstrated.
