People didn’t know toxic. They just didn’t. Cigarettes were digestive aids then. Kids ran behind the DDT truck to cool off in summer. No clues had.
Most of the truly hazardous chemicals did not exist prior to c1940, so it’s no shock that 20 years later when they were still nearly unregulated and in common use, so they were disposed of as any other wastes.
I’ve made a living off this, count this as my area of expertise.
