science · 03 October 1941 · 83 years ago
In 1941, a patent for the first aerosol can used in a commercial application was filed by chemist Lyle D. Goodhue and entomologist William N. Sullivan, researchers at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. It was titled a “Dispensing Apparatus” (U.S. No. 2,331,117, issued 5 Oct 1943). To apply oil-free insecticides in mushroom houses, they dissolved an insecticide in a nonflammable, liquefied gas under pressure in a strong steel container. The insecticide was allowed to escape in a fine spray through an oil burner nozzle. During WW II similar cans, dubbed “bug bombs,” were used to protect troops from malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Under the public service patent, royalty-free licenses were issued for the manufacture of insecticidal aerosols until the patent expired in 1960. Many improvements followed.
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