Silent Spring Notes

Subtle reminders of threats, infringement of liberties, and failures of programs

in the form of quotes, implication, examples, data
Cites many professionals

Thoughts
Reminds me of The Lorax who will speak for the trees? and profit-seeking
Documentary primarily interviews colleagues of Carson, but did interview the other

Ideas
Changed the world with a book
Public does not have the whole picture - human rights argument, Bill of Rights
Strong female figure, minority in science community
Argument must be airtight, had to hold her own against personal attacks
Interconnectedness of life - water, soil, plants
Persistence of chemicals

Historical Context
Chems developed out of technology boom from WWII
DDT stopped Typhus Fever during the war
Government supported - sprayed from airplanes on farms, trucks in suburbs
Carson - biologist with talent for writing from young age
Carson began writing 1950s on her own
The Sea Around Us - gave her respect, 1951
Sprayed Olga Huckins bird sanctuary Carson must write book
Jeanne Davis - assistant
Establishment refused information and fired those who spoke out against it
Federal spraying of private lands - contamination
Fire ant - govt made it into a threat, sought to eradicate
Pesticide industry opposed publication - said she lied about their products and those opposed to
pesticides are communist menaces
New Yorker excerpts primed public; 60k sold first day of publishing
Attention of JFK caught investigations
American Medical Association, Monsanto verbally attacked her, called her hysterical
Two sides of the story but not according to Carson
Illness gave her time away from the book facts wont hold up, need to simplify, emotional
plea

Introduction
Silent Spring is now Noisy Summer
Intoxicated with a sense of his own power, [mankind] seems to be going farther and farther into
more experiments for the destruction of himself and his world.

Chapter 1 - A Fable for Tomorrow
Begins with emotional plea that WE are doing something very wrong
Beautiful harmonious town for many years, then suddenly a blight
People die, birds cannot fly, pigs were sick, no bees to pollinate trees so no fruit, fish died
No witchcraft..The people had done it themselves.
Does not exist, each threat has been witnessed

Chapter 2 - The Obligation to Endure
Reveals flaws in pesticide practices and calls upon citizens desire for rights
Man is the first creature to harness such control over nature
Nature has developed a balance through deliberate passing of time, unlike mans heedless
pace
500+ new chemicals a year, ubiquitous usage against pests
They should not be called insecticides but biocides.
Resistance to pesticides develops - Thus the chemical war is never won, and all life is caught
in its violent crossfire.
Great risk for nothing b/c we are overproducing already
Insect problems:
Close quarters disease-carrying insects
single-cropping large pops. of 1 species, example of disease carried by beetle + elm
There are other options, why should we accept the bare minimum for survival
If the FF could have envisioned such a problem, freedom from spraying would be in the BoR
The obligation to endure gives us the right to know.

Chapter 3 - Elixirs of Death
Why do we think we can put these deadly toxins in our environment without consequence?
For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with
dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.
Chemicals last for longer than they are applied in life, water, and soil.
Post WWII insecticides are synthetic and much more potent
2 groups of insecticides:
chlorinated hydrocarbons
organic phosphorus
Small amounts are deadly
These poisons have caused many illnesses and deaths
Careless dispensing - baby and dog died
Potentiation - combination is worse for destroying the bodys protection
Systemics - lead to poisoned plants + products like honey

Chapter 4 - Surface Waters and Underground Seas
All water systems are connected, and chemicals magnify themselves in biological life
Paradoxically, we can only use a small percent of water
Chemicals reach the water systems
Drinking water polluted, no way to test for organic pollutants
Upstream from spray sight above waterfall contained DDT
Colorado manufacturing plant - 8 years later the chemicals were ravaging farms miles away
2,4D formed spontaneously in water; could happen in glass of water
Hundreds of dead birds from sprayed farmlands getting into water
Clear Lake - dilute DDD to kill gnats, but biomagnified in plants, plankton, fish, birds
After chemical was gone from the water, it lived on in generations of life
Public can no longer fish, and is either forced into contaminated drinking water or paying taxes
to try to clean it (though only partially successful)

Chapter 5 - Realms of the Soil
Chemicals ruin the productivity of soil, and tarnish croplands for years
Soil enables plant life which enables animal life, and soil depends on us:
life exists in soil, which allows it to support plants
Sets up majesty of soil as dynamic system of exchange
Millions of bacteria move chemicals like fixing nitrogen for plants sake
Larger mammals live in the soil
Earthworms good, nitrogen-rich soil
The soil community, then, consists of a web of interwoven lives, each in some way related to
the others.
Insecticides to kill some species, but can we expect to leave the good insects unharmed?
Chemicals all inhibit nitrification, and last for many years
Eliminating one pest increases the dominance of another potentially to pest status
Repeated spraying accumulates poisons
arsenic levels of tobacco cigs. increased, but NOT in location without arsenic insecticides
Chemicals breach plant tissue in carrots, sweet potatoes, peanuts crop land RUINED
Wheat, barley, rye, beans withered from insecticide

Chapter 6 - Earths Green Mantle
We depend on plants and there are more effective methods to control undesirable species
We survive from plants
Mans narrow attitude toward plants - If we see any immediate utility in a plant we foster it. If for
any reason we find its presence undesirable or merely a matter of indifference, we may
condemn it to destruction forthwith.
Sage - only plant to thrive in western plains (mustve taken a long time for nature to get it right)
Antelope and sage grouse depend on sage
Man desires grassland w/o sage for cattle, spraying will ruin ecosystem, also killing willows +
destroying recreational area
Chemical weed killers are a bright new toy they give a giddy sense of power over nature
Spraying is cheaper than mowing, but not when roadsides are destroyed
Descriptions of trees and shrubs killed; Such plants are weeds only to those who make a
business of selling and applying chemicals.
Presents weed killers philosophy - The author defended the killing of good plants simply
because they are in bad company. Those who complain about killing wildflowers along
roadsides reminded him, he said, of antivivisectionists to whom, if one were to judge by their
actions, the life of a stray dog is more sacred than the lives of children.
Counters by suggesting how reasonable it is to prefer beautiful roadsides rather than brown,
AND says it is reasonable to not rejoice in the domination of nature
Paints opponents as heartless and only concerned with profit
Shrubs = habitat for bees, man needs pollination
Advocates for selective spraying rather than repeated roadside spraying; >20 yrs w/o
respraying, removes tall woody plants to preserve other vegetation, minimal threat to wildlife
2,4D - attracts wildlife to poisoned plants, increased nitrate content poisonous gas in silos
Alternative example - Planting marigolds killed nematodes which helped roses
Weeds tells us about the soils status
2,4D kills ragweed and shrubs, but then ragweed grows back with even more space/vigor
crabgrass infestations could be cured by improving the quality of the soil
Klamath weed - invader, enemy beetles imported to stop it successfully
Another, cacti in Australia stopped by moths, and costed way less than spraying

Chapter 7 - Needless Havoc
Man gets off on dominating nature with refusal to face the facts of available research
As man proceeds toward his announced goal of the conquest of nature, he has written a
depressing record of destruction, directed not only against the earth he inhabits but against the
life that shares it with him.
Citizens hear conflicting messages from conservationists and control agencies but should trust
those who are qualified, not entomologists who are untrained
Enjoyers are nature are being deprived:
Michigan attempted to control Japanese beetle by spraying aldrin (one of the most poisonous)
because it was cheapest and claiming it was safe, and again at the cost of taxpayers
Birds, squirrels, cats, and dogs all died, and it happened in other cities too
Worst case in Sheldon, Illinois: Dieldrin by air, refused to consult Fish and Wildlife Service
Tragedy could have been avoided by doing the research, but funding bias towards chemicals
Not just scientific but moral: The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war
on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called civilized. moral question
Horrific description of dead squirrel, By acquiescing in an act that can cause such suffering to a
living creature, who among us is not diminished as a human being?

Chapter 8 - And No Birds Sing
Birds disappear in attempts to eradicate one species of life, there are effective ways
Silent spring, womans personal story, has to explain to children
More personal accounts of no birds due to spraying
Dutch elm disease carried by elm bark beetles, so they sprayed
Research shows insecticides killed robins, makes sterile
Mammals + ground feeding birds poisoned by grubs + earthworms
Species after species of devastated birds
When insects resurge, birds will not be able to keep them in check
Public may think: Shall we have birds or shall we have elms? but not like that
Unsuccessful spraying figures, quotes/names scientists who did real research
Spraying destroyed elms natural enemies and made it worse
NY successful sanitation program involves REAL investigation and tree removal action
Replace lost elms with other trees for biodiversity
Stats show trend of declining eagles, lost reproductive capacity (research suggests DDT, maybe
from fish)
treated seeds dead birds collected, all but one from insecticides, moribond foxes
Farmers wanted to eradicate blackbirds so sprayed when they couldve made simple change
Who has the right to make these decisions?

Chapter 9 - Rivers of Death
Fish are ultra-sensitive to chemicals that reach moving water
Salmon swim upstream to spawn for thousands of years until aerial spraying killed all insects
leaving nothing to eat
Target: budworms still increased despite more spraying
Repeated spraying = complete destruction
Negligence - planes dont turn off nozzles over water
one pound of DDT per acre was safe except oily film covers water and fish die containing DDT
100% of salmon killed in at least 4 major streams; homing instinct return each year
Alternative - natural parasitism
25 mill Americans in fishing industry, 15 mill casual anglers
^ ends up on dinner table
Rain and run-off carries poisons to water
DDT and chemicals are proven to kill fish
Fishes in shallow ponds = food in developing countries; already spraying to control mosquitoes,
DDT remains in water
Colorado River - fish kills stretching 200 miles over a week from plant leaking chems
Long-term effects unknown, more disasters where plan to kill insects hurts aquatic life
Undeniable, call to action: When will the public become sufficiently aware of the facts to
demand such action. denied the facts

Chapter 10 - Indiscriminately from the Skies
When they gain the power, officials start futile mission of eradication at the expense of citizens
Attitude towards poisons has changed - skull and crossbones containers showered down
indiscriminately from the skies
Towns and cities are affected - including humans and non-humans within them
Gypsy moth - successfully contained by natural parasites and predators
But a year after satisfaction expressed, state department undertakes eradication mission
Federal and state officials Ignored complaints from locals
!!! describes spraying of both biological locations AND suburbia - including housewife trying to
protect her garden, and children playing covered in insecticides
Legal action of injunction carried to courts but denied. One S.C. Justice said, the alarms that
many experts and responsible officials have raised about the perils of DDT underline the public
importance of this case.
Another violation of rights - Family farm requested specifically not to spray her property which
contained her pastures, offered inspection for gypsy moth and spot spraying
Told no farms would be sprayed, received two direct spraying milk contaminated with DDT
but poor regulations didnt stop it from going to market (scary)
Growing lawsuits - beekeeper lost 800 colonies - no bee buzz quote (parallels silent spring)
but there was no one to sue
Spraying did nothing to stop the gypsy moth
Similarly, for years the fire ant was unbothered; a nuisance but not even the most important
Power to spray propaganda, mass campaign based on faulty claims
Cites Alabama study (the most relevant state) that disproves damage to plants/livestock claim
More research that disproves menace claims, no need for mass spraying (on playgrounds etc)
Urgent protests by conservation departments, national agencies, ecologists and even
entomologists were IGNORED
Destruction - Poultry, livestock, and pets killed ignored by agr. department
More facts of harmful effects on live - again implicates sportsmen w/ practical elimination of
quail
Subtle - threat to children quote in poisoned milk, FDA has no authority
Indicts Department of Ag again, embarked on its program without even elementary
investigation of what was already known about the chemical to be used -- or if it investigated, it
ignored the findings.
AND they used too much, unnecessary amounts of chemicals - subtle reference to taxpayer $$
AGAIN - program was a complete failure
Effective local methods known for YEARS, costs MUCH less ($.23 vs $3.50) and cites 90-95%
control of fire ants

Chapter 11 - Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias
No human in society is immune from intimate contact with DDT and chemicals
Birth-to-death contact with chemicals
Unmarked like medicinal poisons on shelves
Glass containers that a child could spill, like spraymen sent into convulsions
Insecticide-coated household items - kitchen cabinets, polished floor W/O warnings, even
SUGGESTED by companies + Dept Agr
Home gardening recommends DDT, hose attachments get in water supply yet no warnings
Consumer herbicides give no hints as to their true nature, painting a happy picture instead
DDT is in humans from food, few if any foods can be relied upon to be entirely free of DDT.
Persistence - washing + cooking do not destroy residues
EVEN Eskimos have small amounts for contacting civilization
Ties it back to spraying + uneducated farmers excessive spraying
But doesnt the government protect us from such things - explains limited protection FDA
Established tolerances are defective - accumulation occurs, based on bad info
Whats the solution? compromising plea for reducing the worst chemicals, but says farmers
dont listen anyway
Gives real answer: realize they are bad and consider non chemical methods

Chapter 12 - The Human Price
Acute effects of pesticides are known, and the long term effects are ominous
Long-term effects are unknown
Humans tend to ignore everything but the obvious
But I have used dieldrin sprays on the lawn many times but I have never had convulsions like
the WHO spraymen--so it hasnt harmed me.
Toxins accumulate in fatty tissues - example of obesity treatment
Livers damaged by pesticides are weak to all- possible relations: rise in hepatitis, cirrhosis
Whether causal or not, it makes no sense to weaken ourselves
Solid repeating evidence of nervous system poisoning - we shouldnt saturate our environment
We are never exposed to just one chemical; they combine and do more damage
long term effects of organic phosphates- Ginger paralysis - scary
This history predicts a future due to pesticide use

Chapter 13 - Through a Narrow Window
Paints delicate picture of how cells allow for life, then destroys it with chemical reality
Peering through narrow window metaphor
Creates picture of awe of how cells burn fuel to run the body, and how it was discovered
Should they cease to burn, no heart could beat, no plant could grow upward defying gravity, no
amoeba could swim, no sensation could speed along a nerve, no thought could flash in the
human brain, said the chemist Eugene Rabinowitch.
Radiation comparison to chemicals in ability to halt this oxidation process
Subtly, without exaggeration, chemicals affect birth and children
Evidence in birds - DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons inhibit egg production
There is no reason to suppose these disastrous events are confined to birds. ATP is the
universal currency of energy, and the metabolic cycles that produce it turn to the same purpose
in birds and bacteria, in men and mice.
Genetic effects - Again the parallel between chemicals and radiation is exact and inescapable.
Effects duplicated in lab studies with chemicals, many in pesticides
Radiation effects - publicly known, but mustard gas - less noticed
Scientific description of cell division, field is in its infancy
Evidence of organisms mutated by chems
But can we afford to ignore the fact that we are now filling the environment with chemicals that
have the power to strike directly at the chromosomes, affecting them in the precise ways that
could cause such conditions? Is this not too high a price to pay for a sproutless potato or a
mosquitoless patio?

Chapter 14 - One in Every Four
No safe dosage of carcinogens that may strike our children years down the road.
Paints picture of ancient nature interrupted by mans rapid pace of creating carcinogens with no
time to develop protection
No longer occupational hazards, even of children as yet unborn.
Children cancer used to be a rarity, but Today, more American school children die of cancer
than from any other disease.
Tumors present before birth
Dr. Francis Ray warned we may be initiating cancer in the children of today by the addition of
chemicals [to food]... We will not know, perhaps for a generation or two, what the effects will
be.
Evidence for pesticides being carcinogens
arsenic - city of Reichenstein water polluted and mass disease, animals affected too
1955 chemical - zero tolerance, but courts allowed for 1ppm Although the committee
did not say so, its decision meant that the public was to act as guinea pigs, testing the
suspected carcinogen along with laboratory dogs and rats.
DDT - definitely chemical carcinogen
More cases of definite tumor growth in rats, human level unknown, but
So slowly developing, you never know until its too late - women bone cancer 15-30 yrs
Leukemia, though, has short latent time and figures say it is rising, ex. of woman who
sprayed her house repeatedly and died within a month. Another ex. of aplastic anemia
leukemia 9 yrs later. !! Children developed it from unloading sacks of insecticides
Small doses are worse This is why there is no safe dose of a carcinogen.
Delayed reaction - By these means they may be creating sleeping cancer cells, cells in which
an irreversible malignancy will slumber long and undetected until finally -- its cause long
forgotten and even unsuspected -- it flares into the open as recognizable cancer.
The rapidly growing tissues of a child would also afford conditions most suitable for the
development of malignant cells. - common in 3-4yr old bracket
Pregnant mice example - mom and young develop lung cancer from chemical urethane
Cancers linked to altered estrogen levels from liver dmg - caused by hydrocarbons
Examples of arsenic - air pollutant, water contaminant, pesticide residue in food, in medicines,
cosmetics, wood preservatives, coloring agent in paints and inks.
If you are exposed to DDT, you are certainly exposed to other liver-damaging hydrocarbons
widely used in the household. What then can be a safe dose of DDT?
Herbicides IPC and CIPC can initiate for something else - perhaps a common detergent
Reiterates, only safe dose is zero
Devastating trout liver cancer epidemic hazard to man
!! If such preventive measures are not taken, says Dr. Hueper, the stage will be set at a
progressive rate for the future occurrence of a similar disaster to the human population.
Question: Isnt it a hopeless situation? Were in a sea of carcinogens
Cites Dr. Hueper as respected and answers with thoughtfulness: infectious disease battle of
19th century involved eliminating disease organisms from the environment. No magic pill,
cancer is diverse and public should focus on prevention in environment, not a single cure
Not hopeless because WE put them in the environment, so WE can eliminate them. They are
unnecessary. But for those not yet touched by the disease and certainly for the generations as
yet unborn, prevention is the imperative need.

Chapter 15 - Nature Fights Back
A chemical approach to insect populations ignores biology and worsens the situation
Insects grow stronger when we blindly hurl chemical controls at them
Presents convenient viewpoint: Balance of nature is outdated, might as well forget about it
The balance of nature is not a status quo; it is a fluid, ever shifting, in a constant state of
adjustment.
Fecundity of resistance types of life overlooked - personal reflection
Cites cases where one species overran after another was eliminated
70-80% of Earths creatures are insects, held in check by natural forces, without any
intervention by man. Makes chemicals seem silly
Paints visual pictures of predator and parasite lifestyle, explaining how the inter-species
competition helps us, yet we have turned our artillery against our friends.
With the passage of time we may expect progressively more serious outbreaks of insects, both
disease-carrying and crop-destroying species, in excess of anything we have ever known.
Presents counterpoint - Surely it wont happen in my lifetime, anyway
But it is happening, here and now. cites spraying that dramatically increased populations
Spider mite has become abundant thanks to DDT killing its enemies - cites cases killing trees
Spraying their colonies just scatters them to find more food than previously available
Lists case after case of outbreaks provoked by spraying
Then cites incredibly effective introduction of natural enemy - costed only $5000 and saved
citrus industry, but in a moment of heedlessness the benefit was cancelled out, by DDT.
Disease-carrying insect outbreaks - human effects of snail-borne disease
Funding is being poured into insecticide research, but not biological control methods for the
simple reason that they do not promise anyone the fortunes that are to be made in the chemical
industry.
Reveals conflict of interest in entomologists - their jobs depend on perpetuation of chemicals
Chemical viewpoint neglects the biological understanding of insect populations
Cites successful modified program

Chapter 16 - The Rumblings of an Avalanche
Insects build resistance quickly, and we are on the verge of a mass infestation due to chemicals
DDT ushered in Age of Resistance
Figures verify chemical resistance. No one believes in the end is in sight
Short-term success immediately replaced with resistance
One commenter - News such as this quietly trickling through scientific circles and appearing in
small sections of the overseas press is enough to make headlines as big as those concerning
the new atomic bomb if only the significance of the matter were properly understood.
Insect-carried disease must be addressed, but not by chemicals
Very fast immunity develops, and populations increase
Mosquitoes, flies led to human outbreaks in malaria, yellow fever, etc.
Ticks in cities where they werent before
Resistance in crop-destroying species, yet industry wont face facts
Darwinian toughness survives, describes how they become so resistant
Poses question: But couldnt humans do the same?
Responds: Takes generations thousands of years
Dept. of Agr thinks better chemicals are needed
quote - Chemicals proof of our insufficient understanding, we must be humble

Chapter 17 - The Other Road
Shows how effective biological alternatives are and damns chemical control to the Stone Age
Metaphor, Robert Frost - The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth
superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. the other fork
less traveled is the only way to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth.
Our choice - if we make it and assert our right to know then we should no longer accept the
counsel of those who tell us that we must fill our world with poisonous chemicals.
Successful alternatives in biological solutions
There are many scientists thinking about them and waiting to test
Brilliant success of screw-worm eradication - radiation sterilize males
Presents chemical sterilant, but warns it could become the same as insecticides w/o caution
Spray isolated attractant so male gypsy moths cannot find females
Sound can be used to fool or kill some insects
Also beset by microorganisms why should they not also aid us in the control of insects?
Field tests are already happening
Some might think they are similar to insecticides - but harmless to all but their intended
targets. because they are so specific
More success stories around the world with biological control
There is, then, a whole battery of armaments available to the forester who is willing to look for
permanent solutions that preserve and strengthen the natural relations in the forest.
Reiterates that chemical pest control is at best a stopgap bringing no real solution
As crude a weapon as the cave mans club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the
fabric of life.
Control of nature is an idea from the Stone Age of science.

Afterword
Carson aggregated and synthesized what environmental scientists had known into a single
image for the public to understand
Chemistry and physics were the forefront of discovery
Economic prosperity no restraint or concern for environment
Plan to create sea channel parallel to Panama Canal would have intermingled two separate
ecosystems and devastated
Fire ant campaign - the Vietnam of Entomology
Carson called for end of heedless endangerment of life
EPA formed, focus on harmful effects of chems, Endangered Species Act
But developers and policymakers still chip away at the remains of the American natural
environment