DDT Awareness Project

DDT Dumping in the Ocean

DDT is a pesticide that was banned in the USA in 1972 due to its harmful effects on wildlife and humans. During its production, the Montrose Chemical Corporation dumped large quantities of DDT waste directly into the ocean
DDT Is a huge problem for ocean life because it is insoluble and stays in water for large periods of time. Impacts the food chain. That’s why it is so important to find out what areas of our ocean are contaminated.
In 2023, significant attention has been drawn to the dumping sites of DDT off the Southern California coast, particularly around Santa Catalina Island.

DDT degrades slowly, staying in soil and water for decades, making it harder to spot contamination sites
DDT moves via water, wind, and accumulation in food chains, spreading contamination far from original sources.
Detecting DDT requires extensive sampling, which is costly, and technology alone is insufficient without physical tests.
DDT does not react with many things that don’t react to seawater as well.

Bio-sampling can be very useful by using biology samples from healthy species to compare with fish in possible contamination locations.
We could create an AI software with machine learning that detects patterns to find out where DDT is located.
MIPs (Molecularly Imprinted Polymers) can bind specifically to DDT molecules even in complex environments like seawater, without reacting to the salts or organic molecules present in the water. This sampling can be used with AI to detect the DDT contaminated sites

DDT-dumping from the mid 1900’s is affecting underwater life and could essentially impact humans.
Barrels filled with pesticides are leaking and spreading throughout the ocean floor and life.
Researchers from Scripps Oceanography and others require an immense amount of funding to study and address the problem.
To acquire this amount of money, spreading public awareness is the key.

Our solution is to help ocean researchers to get funding through raising awareness in the community.
Our solution is to create interactive displays, simulations, and games for kids in elementary/middle school.
We believe that early education will spread public awareness not only to the students but to the parents as well. This provides a big source for funding.

Robotics Kits and displays in the community
- We provide Robot Kits describing the ocean problems like DDT-dumping
Roblox Game
- Kids learn faster by playing games.
- The game will encourage kids to explore and understand ocean DDT related problems