The 1950s: Aerosols

Aerosols in the 1950s

Following WWII, aerosols became increasingly popular as consumer products throughout the world. Bug bombs were used during the war, which protected many soldiers against malaria. Some of the first commercially available aerosols were bug sprays. DDT was sprayed frequently to kill mosquitos. At the time, it was believed that mosquitos might be a cause of polio. Of course, polio was caused by a virus, and DDT carried it's own health risks.

Aerosols enact what Rob Nixon has dubbed slow violence. Though we tend to think of violence as something quick and immediately visible, the environmental harms of aerosols in fact are largely invisible and slow-moving.