A dynamite idea
Diatomaceous earth may soon protect tropical crops against insects
IT IS a long time since diatomaceous earth was used only by fullers to remove the grease from wool. Its most famous job was probably as the inert agent into which Alfred Nobel absorbed nitroglycerine to make dynamite. But the mineral, which acquired its name because it is composed of the skeletons of minuscule dead plants called diatoms, may be about to enjoy another, less explosive, career as an alternative to insecticides in poor countries.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A dynamite idea”
From the June 2nd 2001 edition
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