422 



cides, the gathering of data on residue levels, and the determination 

 of residue tolerances of man and the ecology. 



The staff report of the House Appropriations Committee suggested 

 that Miss Carson's book had been one-sided and had "unnecessarily 

 caused public concern over the ill effects of chemical pesticides on the 

 public health." Nevertheless, the book had also been beneficial in "col- 

 lecting information on the improper uses of pesticides and on the re- 

 sulting possibilities of danger to public health." 



Moreover, the author emphasized the need for greater public support of efforts 

 to (a) discover selective chemical pesticides that would be poisonous only to the 

 particular insect or other organism to be killed ; (&) develop useful physical and 

 biological pest-control methods; and (c) intensify the study of acute and chronic 

 effects of chemical pesticides on man, fish, birds, and other animals. Greater effort 

 has, indeed, been devoted to such problems since the publication of "Silent 

 Spring." " 



In the Senate hearings before the Government Operations Subcom- 

 mittee, Miss Carson herself helped to restore perspective to the pesti- 

 cide controversy. In a colloquy with Senator Ribicoff, who chaired 

 the hearings, the following exchange occurred : 



Miss Carson. That is a fair statement; yes. It would not be possible, even 

 if we wished to do so, to eliminate all chemicals tomorrow. 



A great deal of the discussion of "Silent Spring" and of the issues has, as you 

 say, been placed on an all-or-none basis, which is not correct. This is not what I 

 advocated, sir. 



Senator Ribicoff. In other words, you recognize that many of these chemical 

 poisons have produced many benefits both to public health in combating disease, 

 and to nutritional health in improving the quality of our food supply. 



Miss Carson. They have produced benefits. My concern is about the serious 

 side effects. 



I think that we have had our eyes too exclusively on the benefits, and we have 

 failed to recognize that there are also many side effects which must be taken into 

 consideration. However, what I have advocated is not the complete abandon- 

 ment of chemical control. I think chemicals do have a place. In fact. I have cited 

 with great approval the coordination of chemical and biological controls such 

 as is applied, for example, in the apple orchards of Nova Scotia. 



Senator Ribicoff. And am I correct, then, that your primary objection is 

 against the indiscriminate use of pesticides and use where they are not neces- 

 sary, and their excessive use even where they are necessary ? 



Miss Carson. That is correct, and I think that instead of automatically reach- 

 ing for the spray gun or calling in the spray planes, we must consider the whole 

 problem. We must find out first whether there is any other method that can be 

 used. 



If there is not, then we should use chemicals as sparingly and as selectively 

 as we can, and we should use them in such a way that we do not destroy the 

 controls that are built into the environment. 



Senator Ribicoff. In other words, you do not believe that next spring will be 

 the silent spring, but that injury to wildlife and to man himself will become an 

 ever-increasing threat in the years ahead, unless proper safeguards are de- 

 veloped and new techniques, such as biological controls, are put into practice. 



Miss Carson. I think we must begin now to take account of the hazards to 

 change our methods where and when we can." 



The final report of the Senate pesticide investigation, July 21, 1966, 

 drew attention to the need to consider every technolo.Qrical innovation 

 in the light of its benefits and risks. The Carson book had emphasized 

 the risk side of the equatio7i. In response to this empliasis, some wit- 

 nesses — said the report — had urged that pesticides "should be virtually 



^ Department of Asrriculture Appropriations for 1966. Op. clt., hearings, pp. 169-170. 

 B2 Interagreney Coordination in Environmental Hazards (pesticides). Hearings * * *. 

 Op. cit, p. 220." 



