Download The Impact of DDT on Agriculture and Health in the 1940s-1960s: A Double-Edged Sword - Pro and more Study notes Animal Biology in PDF only on Docsity! 19 January 2011 1950s Insects= enemies - Destroy crops - Consume stored products (esp. grains) - Livestock (ticks, lice, grubs suck blood, ruin leather) - Spreaders of disease - Feed on wooden structures DDT use in the 1940s and 1950s - New way to collect insects - Add DDT to gin => happiness - “miracle chemical” - Led to an “era of optimism” - Farmers: “when the chemicals came along…you had your crop.” Pesticide= a substance used to kill pests Insecticide= a substance used to kill insects DDT - Chlorinated hydrocarbon - First used during WWII - 1942: DDT sent by Swiss to US Secret Army lab was set up in Orlando, FL Tested DDT against lice (which spread typhus) US Army first used DDT in Africa and Italy New Technology right after WWII - Pesticides, plastics, fertilizers DDT saved millions of lives in WWII - First war where enemy killed more than disease (DDT used to control typhus) Massive growth of the chemical industry Patuxent Research Refuge, Maryland - DDT kills birds Chemists and entomologists did not ask why DDT kills insects DDT: massive use on US farms DDT sprayed in suburbs Rachel Carson: - Marine biologist: criticized for not having qualifications - US Bureau of Fisheries - Best-selling author before Silent Spring - 1962- Silent Spring published 21 January 2011 1964: Ruth Harrison wrote Animal Machines - Foreward by Carson Silent Spring - Carson wrote with “emotionality” - Velsicol tried to stop publication - JFK and Udall became “aware.” - Became a best-seller - Industry: “Silent Spring full of errors” - Jukes: “No pesticide residues in foods”! Sales Soared - Within 1 year: Pesticide bills introduced in 40 states - CBS TV interview - Opposition: Dr. Robert White-Stevens - What is “Balance of Nature”? - US Senate hearing Victor Yannacone of the Environmental Defense Fund - Led fight against DDT - Hearings held in Wisconsin 1968-1969: if DDT is so bad, why doesn’t it make people sick? - Turning point: DDT is present in human breast milk. DDT is banned. 1962- Silent Spring published 1970- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established 1972- DDT banned by EPA. Silent Spring - One of the most important books ever published - Impact due to Carson’s eloquence - Always, Rachel Letters of Carson and Dorothy Freeman (1994)