Silent Spring

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Silent Spring was written by Rachel Carson and published in September, 1962. The book claimed detrimental effects of pesticides on the environment, particularly on birds. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically. Research has shown that the pesticide DDT is persistent in the environment, ingested by members of the bottom of the food chain, and becomes more concentrated in higher members of the food chain (birds and humans). According to Carson, DDT had been found to cause thinner egg shells and result in reproductive problems and death. She proposed a biotic approach to pest control as an alternative to DDT.

The book is widely credited with launching the environmentalism movement in the West. Prof. Gary Kroll commented, "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring played a large role in articulating ecology as a 'subversive subject'— as a perspective that cut against the grain of materialism, scientism, and the technologically engineered control of nature."

When Silent Spring was published, Rachel Carson was already a well-known writer on natural history, but had not previously been a social critic. The book was widely read, spending several weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, and inspired widespread public concerns with pesticides and pollution of the environment. Silent Spring is credited with the ultimate banning of DDT in the United States.

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Support

Even before Silent Spring was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, there was strong opposition to it. According to Time in 1999:

"Carson was violently assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision, including suggestions that this meticulous scientist was a "hysterical woman" unqualified to write such a book. A huge counterattack was organized and led by Monsanto, Velsicol, American Cyanamid—indeed, the whole chemical industry—duly supported by the Agriculture Department as well as the more cautious in the media."

Again according to Time, within a year or so of publication, "all but the most self-serving of Carson's attackers were backing rapidly toward safer ground. In their ugly campaign to reduce a brave scientist's protest to a matter of public relations, the chemical interests had only increased public awareness.” [2]

Carson had made it clear she was not advocating the banning or complete withdrawal of helpful pesticides, but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use, with an awareness of the chemicals' impact on the entire ecosystem. However, some critics asserted that she was calling for the elimination of all pesticides, despite the fact that Silent Spring was positively reviewed by many outside of the academic field such as agricultural science and chemical science, and it became a runaway best seller both in the USA and overseas.

There are also number of anectodal evidence which may support Carson's claim. For example, chemicals that are persistent in the environment accumulate in body fat and are carried by women in their breast tissue. Thus far, human data about the link between these chemicals and breast cancer are inconclusive. For example, some studies have shown that women with breast cancer have the same or lower levels of pesticide residue in their system than women without the disease. Still, other studies, by U.S. and Canadian scientists, have found that women with higher levels of organochlorines in their blood have four to ten times the risk of breast cancer than those with lower levels. Organochlorines are hydrocarbon-based chemicals containing chlorines like DDT. [1] Moreover, "diminishing rates of breast cancer in Israel have paralleled a precipitous decline in environmental contamination with DDT and benzene hexachloride." [2], and [3]

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Criticism

The book attracted hostile attention from scientists, commentators and the chemical industry. In general, her book did not receive positive reviews from the science field. Opposition began even before Houghton Mifflin published the book. One of Carson's claims cited as controversial was that DDT is a carcinogen. Studies have failed to demonstrate a link between DDT and cancer. On the contrary:

  • In one study, primates were fed 33,000 times more DDT than the estimated exposure of adult humans in 1969. No conclusive link with cancer was detected. Source: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology 1999; 125(3-4):219-25
  • A study of 692 women, half of them control subjects, over a period of twenty years, established no correlation between serum DDE and breast cancer. DDE is a matabolite of DDT, and correlates with DDT exposure. Source: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1999 June; 8(6):525-32
  • A study examined 35 workers exposed to 600 times the average DDT exposure levels over a period of 9 to 19 years. No elevated cancer risk was observed. Source: ER Laws, 1967. Archives of Environmental Health 15:766-775
  • "DDT has been conservatively credited with saving some 100 million lives" - Todd Seavey, Director of Publications - American Council on Science and Health [4]
  • In another study, humans voluntarily ingested 35 mg of DDT daily for about two years, and were then tracked for several years afterward. No elevated risk was observed. Source: Hayes, W. 1956. JAMA 162:890-897

Scientists such as Robert White-Stevens stated

"If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth." (see [1])

In a recent essay, 'The Harm That Pressure Groups Can Do', Dick Taverne was damning in his criticism of Carson, "Carson didn't seem to take into account the vital role (DDT) played in controlling the transmission of malaria by killing the mosquitoes that carry the parasite (...) It is the single most effective agent ever developed for saving human life (...) Rachel Carson is a warning to us all of the dangers of neglecting the evidence-based approach and the need to weight potential risk against benefit: it can be argued that the anti-DDT campaign she inspired was responsible for almost as many deaths as some of the worst dictators of the last century."

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References in popular culture

  • In the computer game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, the Iraqi "Desolator" unit poisons the ground and enemy soldiers and has a soundbite saying "it will be a silent spring".
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References

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See also

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External links

ja:沈黙の春 fi:Äänetön kevät sv:Tyst vår zh:寂静的春天

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