PESTICIDES AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIC CHEMICALS - Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know - page 104

What is the importance of the topic Silent Spring ?
Rachel Carson's writing about the dangers of DDT was stimu-
lated by bird kills that she observed following DDT sprayings.
Silent Spring described how DDT entered the food chain and
accumulated in fatty tissues of animals, including humans, caus-
ing cancer and genetic damage. She noted that a single applica-
tion on a crop killed insects for weeks and months (not only the
targeted insects but many others), and remained toxic even after
dilution by rainwater. She concluded that DDT and other chlo-
rinated pesticides had harmed birds and other animals and had
contaminated the world food supply. The topic alarmed read-
ers and triggered an indignant response from chemical industry
spokesmen, who said that if people were to follow her advice we
would return to the Dark Ages, and insects and diseases would
inherit the earth. Anticipating such a reaction, Carson had writ-
ten the topic with numerous scientiic citations and a list of sci-
entific experts who had approved it. Many eminent scientists,
as well as President Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee,
supported the topic. As a result, DDT came under much closer
government scrutiny and was eventually banned. Most of the
other chlorinated hydrocarbons were also gradually phased out
in subsequent decades. An important legacy of Silent Spring was
a new public awareness that nature was vulnerable to human
activities. The growth of the environmental movement was
partly a response to this new awareness. Most uses of DDT
and other chlorinated hydrocarbons were banned in the 1970s.
In the United States, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires that adverse ecological effects
be balanced against the economic costs of regulating pesticide
use and the benefits the pesticide provides.
What are some newer types of pesticides?
Since the 1960s, the variety of pesticides has increased greatly.
Hundreds of chemicals are now in use, and they generally