Originally developed in the 1940s as an alternative to DDT, dieldrin proved to be a highly effective insecticide and was very widely used during the 1950s to early 1970s.
Dieldrin in aldrin, poimenovane po reakciji Diels-Alderja, ki se uporablja za oblikovanje iz mešanice norbornadiena in hexachlorocyclopentadiena.