Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

1. Silent Spring –
The Human Price
Author Rachel Carson (1962)
“Her work attracted outrage from the pesticide industry and
others. Her credibility as a scientist was attacked, and she was
derided as ‘hysterical,’ despite her fact-based assertions and
calm and scholarly demeanor. Following the hearings, President
Kennedy convened a committee to review the evidence Carson
presented. The committee's review completely vindicating her
findings.”

2. Honey Bees Die in SC
 The pictures are heartbreaking: Millions of honeybees lie
dead after being sprayed with an insecticide targeting Zika-
carrying mosquitoes.
 "On Saturday, it was total energy, millions of bees foraging,
pollinating, making honey for winter," beekeeper Juanita
Stanley said. "Today, it stinks of death. Maggots and other
insects are feeding on the honey and the baby bees who are
still in the hives. It's heartbreaking."
 Stanley, co-owner of Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in
Summerville, South Carolina, said she lost 46 beehives --
more than 3 million bees -- in mere minutes after the
spraying began Sunday morning.
 Those that didn't die immediately were poisoned trying to
drag out the dead," Stanley said. "Now, I'm going to have
to destroy my hives, the honey, all my equipment. It's all
contaminated."

3. Previous Human Tragedies
US WORST DISEASE OUTBREAKS
1793: Yellow fever from the Caribbean
1832-1866: Cholera in three waves
1858: Scarlet fever also came in waves
1906-1907: “Typhoid Mary”
1918: “Spanish flu”
1921-1925: Diphtheria epidemic
1916-1955: The peak of polio
1981-1991: Second measles outbreak
2010, 2014: Whooping cough
The bubonic plague, better known as the “The Black Death,” has existed for
thousands of years. The first recorded case of the plague was in China in 224
B.C.E. But the most significant outbreak was in Europe in the mid-fourteenth
century. Over a five-year period from 1347 to 1352, 25 million people died.
In 2015, the officially reported number of deaths to WHO was 1304. It is
estimated that in reality between 42,000 and 142,000 people die of cholera
each year. In spite of all the efforts, many more deaths could be averted,
provided that cases are recognized early and treatment is initiated timely.
An estimated 300 million people died from smallpox in the 20th century
alone. This virulent disease, which kills a third of those it infects, is known to
have co-existed with human beings for thousands of years.

4. Pesticide Spraying

5. Soil, Water, and Food Contamination
“Pesticide contamination has the power to make our streams
fishless, and our gardens and woodlands silent and birdless.”

6. Dr. Rene’ Dubos
“Men are naturally
more impressed by
diseases which
have obvious
manifestations, yet
some of their worst
enemies creep on
them
unobtrusively.”
- Along with the wide use of pesticides in the world,
the concerns over their health impacts are rapidly
growing.
- There is a huge body of evidence on the relation
between exposure to pesticides and elevated rate
of chronic diseases such as different types of:
- Cancers, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders
like Parkinson, Alzheimer, and amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), birth defects, and reproductive
disorders
- Other chronic diseases like respiratory problems,
particularly asthma and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease
such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery
disease, chronic nephropathies, autoimmune
diseases like systemic lupus erythematous and
rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome,
and aging.

7. Issues of pesticide poisoning
Poison caddis flies – salmon dies
Poison gnats – birds around the lake die
Spray elms – robins die (elm leaf-earthworm-robin)
Minute causes produce might effects – one molecule affected can
wreak havoc in organs and tissues. Biological Effects
-Cumulative over long periods.

8. One who handles materials is
unquestionably storing toxic materials
Chlorinated hydrocarbons
Toxic materials are stored
in body fat. When these
reserves of fat are drawn
upon, the poison may
strike quickly.

9. Obesity issues
- Aldrin and dieldrin are the common names of two structurally similar compounds that
were once used as insecticides (chemicals that are made in the laboratory and do not
occur naturally in the environment).
- Aldrin and dieldrin are no longer produced or used. From the 1950s until 1970, aldrin
and dieldrin were used extensively as insecticides on crops such as corn and cotton.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled all uses of aldrin and dieldrin in 1970. In
1972, however, EPA approved aldrin and dieldrin for killing termites. Use of aldrin and
dieldrin to control termites continued until 1987. In 1987, the manufacturer voluntarily
canceled the registration for use in controlling termites.
- For most people, exposure to aldrin and dieldrin occurs when they eat foods
contaminated with either chemical. Contaminated foods might include fish or shellfish
from contaminated lakes or streams, root crops, dairy products, and meats. Exposure
to aldrin and dieldrin also occurs when you drink water, breathe air, or come into
contact with contaminated soil at hazardous waste sites.
- Symptoms of aldrin and dieldrin poisoning have been seen in people who were exposed
to very large amounts of these pesticides during their manufacture. Symptoms of
poisoning have also been seen in people who intentionally or accidentally ate or drank
large amounts of aldrin or dieldrin. Most of these people experienced convulsions or
other nervous system effects, and some had kidney damage.

10. Adipose Tissue
- Fat-soluble insecticides become stored in individual cells.
- Importance of a healthy liver: provides bile for the digestion of
fats; receives blood directly from the digestive tract; deeply
involved in the metabolism of foodstuffs; maintains
cholesterol at its proper level; builds body proteins;
inactivates male and female hormones when they reach
excessive levels; stores many vitamins.
- Abnormally functioning liver – defenseless against variety of
poisons. Normal livers can alter poison molecules so that
their capacity to harm is lessened.
- A liver damaged by insecticides cannot protect.

11. Damaged livers – growth in hepatitis
Both Hepatitis and Cirrhosis increasing.
Prevalence of liver poisons no coincidence.
Major types of insecticides (chlorinated hydrocarbons and organic
phosphates) affect the nervous system.

12. DDT
- DDT was one of the first chemicals in widespread use as a pesticide.
Following World War II, it was promoted as a wonder-chemical, the
simple solution to pest problems large and small. Today, nearly 40
years after DDT was banned in the U.S., we continue to live with its
long-lasting effects.
- Recently, Carson's work has again been targeted by conservative
groups. Capitalizing on the iconic status of DDT, these groups are
promoting widespread use of the chemical for malaria control as part of
a broader effort to manufacture doubt about the dangers of pesticides,
and to promote their anti-regulatory, free market agenda while
attempting to undermine and roll back the environmental movement's
legacy.
Many DDT promoters are
also in the business of
denying climate change.

13. Some evidence that women are more
susceptible than men.
Human Health Harms
The science on DDT's human health impacts has continued to mount
over the years, with recent studies showing harm at very low levels
of exposure. Studies show a range of human health effects linked to
DDT and its breakdown product, DDE:
- breast & other cancers
- male infertility
- miscarriages & low birth weight
- developmental delay
- nervous system & liver damage

14. Humans never exposed to one chemical
alone!
Organic phosphate exposure may interact with various drug,
synthetic materials, and even food additives.

15. Methoxychlor
Methoxychlor is a contact and stomach insecticide effective against a
wide range of pests encountered in agriculture, households, and
ornamental plantings. It is registered for use on fruits, vegetables,
forage crops and on shade trees. Methoxychlor is also registered for
veterinary use as a poison to kill parasites on dairy and beef cattle.
Methoxychlor is one of a few organochlorine pesticides that have
seen an increase in use since the ban on DDT in 1972. This is due to
its relatively low toxicity and relatively short persistence in biological
systems. Methoxychlor is a general use pesticide.
- Directly damaging to uteruses
- Blocking effect on pituitary hormones
- Potential ability to damage the kidneys
- With a damaged liver, stored in the body at 100 times its normal
rate – then mimics DDT (effect on the nervous system)

16. Delayed reactions
With Dieldrin
- Loss of memory, insomnia, nightmares, mania
- Stored in significant amounts in the brains and functioning liver tissue
- May produce profound long-lasting effects on the central nervous
system
Benzene Hexachloride – used in vaporizers

17. Jamaica Ginger
- A mysterious epidemic of paralysis was sweeping through 1920s
America that had the medical community baffled. The cause was
first identified not by physicians, but by blues singers.
During the prohibition, alcohol was banned but people got buzzed
the best way they could. One way was through a highly alcoholic
liquid called Jamaica Ginger or ‘Jake’ that got round the ban by
being sold as a medicine.
- Eventually the feds caught on and even such poorly disguised
medicines were blacklisted but Jamaica Ginger stayed popular, and
alcoholic, due to the producers including an organophosphate
additive called tricresyl phosphate that helped fool the
government’s tests.
- The toxin starts by causing lower leg muscular pain and tingling, followed by
muscle weakness in the arms and legs. The effect on the legs caused a
distinctive form of muscle paralysis that required affected people to lift the leg
high during walking to allow the foot to clear the ground.
- This epidemic of paralysis first made the pages of the New England Journal
of Medicine in June 1930, but the cause remained a mystery.
- 15,000 people developed a permanently crippling type of paralysis of the
leg muscles, a condition now called “ginger paralysis.”

18. Malathion (beloved of gardeners)
- Malathion is an insecticide in the chemical family known as organophosphates. Products
containing malathion are used outdoors to control a wide variety of insects in agricultural
settings and around people's homes. Malathion has also been used in public health mosquito
control and fruit fly eradication programs. Malathion may also be found in some special
shampoos for treating lice. Malathion was first registered for use in the United States in
1956.
- People who were exposed to enough malathion to become sick felt nauseated or vomited,
had muscle tremors, cramps, weakness, shortness of breath, a slowed heart rate, headache,
abdominal pain and diarrhea.
- Pets could be exposed to malathion if they get into a product by accident, or touch or eat
plants that have just been sprayed. Pets will be affected by malathion like other animals. The
nervous system is very similar in people and other animals, so animals poisoned by
malathion may show signs similar to those observed in people.

19. Insecticides and Mental Disease
On his farm in Iowa, Matt Peters worked from dawn to dusk planting his 1,500 acres of fields
with pesticide-treated seeds. “Every spring I worried about him,” said his wife, Ginnie. “Every
spring I was glad when we were done.”
- In the spring of 2011, Ginnie Peters' “calm, rational, loving” husband suddenly became
depressed and agitated. “He told me ‘I feel paralyzed’,” she said. “He couldn’t sleep or think.
Out of nowhere he was depressed.”
- A clinical psychologist spoke to him on the phone and urged him to get medical help. “He
said he had work to do, and I told him if it’s too wet in the morning to plant beans come see
me,” Mike Rossman said. “And the next day I got the call.”
- Peters took his own life. He was 55 years old.
- No one knows what triggered Peters’ sudden shift in mood and behavior. But since her
husband’s death, Ginnie Peters has been on a mission to not only raise suicide awareness in
farm families but also draw attention to the growing evidence that pesticides may alter
farmers’ mental health.
- “These chemicals that farmers use, look what they do to an insect. It ruins their nervous
system,” Peters said. “What is it doing to the farmer?”

20. How do YOU protect yourself?
1. Be aware of the food you eat, taking care to buy organic. Awareness
in your body can guide you. Pesticided food can have a bitter taste and
sometimes causes numbness to the lips.
2. Ask everywhere you go — restaurants, hotels, schools, homes — do
you use pesticides? Do you serve organic food? Let your opinion be
known that you do not want to consume pesticide or be in
environments that pesticide. Vote with your dollar by patronizing
businesses not using pesticides.
3. Grow as much of your own organic food as possible — this is the
safest way to protect yourself.
4. Buy from non-pesticided local farms, local co-ops, and farmers’
markets to support an increase in our local supply of safe food.
5. In your personal environment, clean regularly to avoid attracting
insects, do not leave food out, clean cobwebs and nests to discourage
insect residents.
6. Use the least invasive, natural forms of insect control (see Richard
Fagerlund’s article in the May 2012 Green Fire Times).
Ask for public policy to ban pesticiding of public buildings.

21. Protecting yourself from pesticides
The following list will offer some
of our favorite, all-natural,
inexpensive, organic methods for
making bug-busting pesticides
for your home garden.
Neem
Salt Spray
Mineral oil
Citrus Oil and/or Cayenne Pepper Mix
Soap, Orange Citrus Oil & Water
Eucalyptus oil
Onion and Garlic Spray
Chrysanthemum Flower Tea.