418 



Some organophosphates teamed up synergistically (their toxi- 

 city being thus "potentiated") to multiply their combined toxi- 

 city 50 times (p. 31). 



Among the dangers of herbicides to man were induced tumors, 

 metabolic disruptions, and genetic damage (p. 36). 



Durable insecticides could spread throughout U.S. ground-water 

 reservoirs, and much U.S. ground water was already thus con- 

 taminated (pp. 41-42). 



Fish were particularly susceptible to poisoning from insecti- 

 cides ; fish-eating birds were poisoned by eating killed fish, or their 

 eggs were infertile (pp. 48-49). 



Fungicides might destroy essential microorganisms in the soil, 

 on which food plants depend (p. 57). 



From repeated spraying over the years, quantities of insecti- 

 cides in the soil built up ; peak accumulations had been reported 

 of 15, 19, 26, 34.5, 60, 113 pounds per acre (p. 58) ._ 

 There were a great deal more of this kind of detailed information, 

 heavily footnoted, and all recounted in a powerful and moving prose 

 style. In her conclusion. Miss Carson appealed for research to find ways 

 of resolving the dilemma. She quoted Dr. C. J. Briejer, director of the 

 Plant Protection Service, of the Netherlands : 



It is more than clear that we are traveling a danfferous road * * *. We are 

 going to have to do some very energetic re-search on other control measures, meas- 

 ures that will be hiological, not chemical. Ovr aim should 6e to guide natural 

 processes as cautiously as possible in the desired direction rather than to usq 

 brute force * * *. (Italics in Carson text.) "^ 



Indicative of a rising professional concern contemporaneous with 

 publication of the Carson book is the increase in field studies of pesti- 

 cide-wildlife relationships. An annotated list compiled by the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior, of investigations by States and universities into 

 pesticide damage to nature through 1964, showed an average of 10 

 entries per year, 1947-61 ; with 13 in 1961, 30 in 1962, and 63 in 1963.'"' 

 Indeed, the interest in the Carson thesis was widespread — 



The reaction to the raising of this issue extended throughout Government, 

 the agricultural and chemical industries, conservation and naturalist organiza- 

 tions, and the scientific community. The Life Sciences Panel of the President's 

 Science Advisory Committee began a study of the pesticide problem in the late 

 summer of 1962. On April 4, 1963, Senator Humphrey announced that Senator 

 Ribicoff u^ould conduct a study on interagency coordination in environmental 

 health." 



At a symposium held in Albany, N.Y., and sponsored by the New 

 York State Joint Legislative Committee on Natural Resources, Sep- 

 tember 23, 1063, one speaker said that "The current furor about the 

 deleterious effects of excessive and indiscriminate use of pesticides 

 centers mainly around insecticides, as is evident in Rachel Carson's 



S9 Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring" (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1962), pp. 275, 301-355, 

 and as noted. (Portions of the book first published as a series of articles in The New 

 Yorker). 



*" T'.S. Department of the Interior. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bureau of Sport Fisheries 

 and Wildlife. Pesticide — Wildlife Studies b.v States, Provinces and Universities : An An- 

 notated List of Investigations Through 1964. (Washington, U.S. Government Printing 

 Office, May 1965, 30 pp.) Circular No. 224. 



" U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Operations. Interagency Environ- 

 ment Hazards Coordination. Pesticides and Public Policy. Report of the * * * Made by 

 its Subcommittee on Reorganizations and International Organizations. (Pursuant to S. 

 Rf^s. 27. S8th Cong., as amended: extended by S. Res. 288, 88th Cong.) S. Rept. No. 1379. 

 89th Cong., 2d sess., July 21, 1966 (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966), 

 pp. 1-2. 



