Rachel Carson: The Mother of Environmentalism

Written By Lara Wadsworth

It is common knowledge these days that pesticides should be used with caution. While conventional farmers continue to use them frequently, they realize the danger of careless applications. Today, pesticides are applied in much smaller doses and with greater precision than they have historically. But how did we get this knowledge? Who was the first person to raise questions about pesticides and their dangers? Her name is Rachel Carson. She had the bravery to stand up to corporations who ridiculed, attacked, and suppressed her claims by focusing on her gender. As this movement started in the 1960s, her work was quick to be dismissed and discredited despite the clear scientific evidence showing the adverse effects of pesticide overuse. But she trusted science and had a passion for nature that pushed her to carry on her work.

Rachel Carson's Background

Rachel Carson was born in 1907 in Pennsylvania and quickly showed her interest in education. She was the only one of her siblings to graduate high school. She then went to Chatham College (then known as Pennsylvania College for Women) and studied English until changing her major and graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. She was often described as soft-spoken and frequently found at rocky Atlantic shorelines, observing and appreciating the ecosystem.

Carson studied at Johns Hopkins University and received a master's degree. Then, she joined the staff at the University of Maryland, where she did more research and taught science classes. Afterward, she joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as their chief editor of radio publications. At this job, she began researching and compiling her findings surrounding the controversial and widely used chemical DDT.

DDT - A Chemical Pesticide

DDT, which stands for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, is a powerful chemical pesticide developed to combat malaria by killing common vectors. In World War One, more soldiers were killed by malaria than by guns. Around the world, vector-borne diseases are estimated to have killed around half of everyone who has ever lived. Vector-borne diseases are diseases transmitted through a host organism, including mosquitos, ticks, and other biting insects. Mosquitos, particularly, are recognized as one of the most dangerous animals on the planet due to their sheer body count.

Of course there would be scientists working to mitigate these silent killers. Enter DDT. DDT was shown to be so effective at killing mosquitos and ticks that it rapidly grew in popularity. It was being sprayed in homes, at parks, at public pools, over agricultural fields, and even over forests and wild areas. It was accepted as safe and even healthy to be around. However, it had unseen consequences. Rachel Carson started observing that anywhere DDT was sprayed, the ecosystem was drastically affected in negative ways. Not only were mosquitos being killed, but birds, fish, beneficial insects, and more. She recorded her observations, talked to a host of scientists and other experts, and published her findings in the groundbreaking book Silent Spring.

Silent Spring - The Book

In her book Silent Spring Rachel Carson said, “Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” She attacked the chemical industry for being so reckless with the indiscriminate use of this pesticide, not with the sharpness of her words but with the truth of her facts. Where she usually wrote about the strength and resilience of natural ecosystems, she found herself writing about the appalling and indiscriminate effects of this dangerous practice. The book shook the public’s eye about DDT. Despite firm backlash from other scientists within the chemical industry, people eventually started seeing the truth in her words. Unfortunately, she passed away from cancer 2 years after publishing Silent Spring at the age of 56, too early to see all the fruits of her labor.

Today, DDT is illegal to use in most parts of the world. It has been shown to cause ecological collapse among bird, aquatic, insect, reptile, and terrestrial mammal populations in a shockingly short amount of time. It is also known to cause cancer (humans and animals), birth defects, seizures, vomiting, and tremors. It remains in the ecosystem indefinitely. This chemical is not biodegradable or water-soluble in any way. This means that it never goes away and even builds up, compounding the negative effects. It is stored in the fat in our bodies and gets passed from mother to fetus through the umbilical cord and breastmilk. For this reason, although DDT has been illegal since 1972, most people in the world likely have at least trace amounts of this compound in their bodies even today.

The Results of Reckless Pesticide Overuse

What can we learn from this? We are stewards of the environment. What we do matters. Not only are we stewards but we ARE part of the environment. What we do matters, in part because it affects us. Just because we don’t see immediate undesirable effects doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Pesticides can be a tool. However, they must be rigorously studied and judiciously used at all times.

My most recent instance of crying happened at my desk as I was doing research about this particular issue. Why? Pesticides can be absolutely devastating to our ecosystems and indirectly to our food chains. Yet, as I was learning about this, I was deeply conflicted because it seemed like DDT was saving millions of lives by reducing malaria. However, mosquitos have an incredible ability to evolve miraculously fast. If even two mosquitoes survive a certain chemical, that means they are immune and will, therefore, pass on that immunity to their children. This actually started happening. Within a few years, the mosquito populations were immune to the chemical, and malaria rates were as high as ever. Luckily, scientists are working on other solutions to the malaria problem but with much more caution and knowledge than before.

Hope For The Future

The silver lining here is that we know what to do now. Rachel Carson’s work was one of the many things that led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which works to make sure things like this don’t happen again. Indiscriminate pesticide use is dangerous. It is not the solution but part of the problem. Look beyond the now and prepare for the future. You can be judicious and advocate for more holistic and natural Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Take action in your own garden and encourage those around you to change too.

The fact that pesticide use has been so politicized is, in my opinion, extremely unfortunate. It makes it difficult to talk about it without intense emotions coming from every direction. Of course, there is a need for intervention while diseases like malaria are ravaging the world. But we can use science to find better, more targeted, and lasting solutions. Just like carson said, “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.” Are we more ‘mature’ than we were 60 years ago? I certainly hope so.

Other Resources of Interest:

• Preventing Deer and Rabbit Damage to Your Garden
• 5 Tips to keep deer out of your garden
• Pest Guide

Lara Wadsworth, True Leaf Market Writer

I am a native of Southwestern Michigan, where I also reside, and I love all things plants! I got a Bachelor's Degree in Horticulture and found the first work-from-home job I could get. Now, I spend my days writing for TLM, playing with my dog, eating delicious food with my husband, and plotting my next landscape or gardening move. I believe everyone should get down and dirty in the soil now and then. Happy Gardening!