Toxic Legacies: The Lasting Threat of Historic DDT Dumping off Los Angeles Coast

New research shows that deep-sea fish near Catalina Island are contaminated with DDT-related chemicals, revealing ongoing risks from decades-old pollution.

During the mid-20th century, the country’s largest DDT manufacturer used the ocean off the Los Angeles coast as a dumping site. This chemical, harmful to both human health and wildlife, still lingers in the coastal ecosystem over fifty years later. Although legal at the time, when the details of this industrial-scale pollution gained widespread attention in 2020, it raised major concerns from both scientists and the public.