AP Environmental Science: Silent Spring By Rachel Carson

Katie Houser

Silent Spring: AP Environmental Science Summer Assignment

When marine biologist Rachel Carson released her ground-breaking book, "Silent Spring," in 1962, she signaled in a new awareness of how nature and man are interconnected. In the book, she detailed her observations about the effects of DDT—a chlorinated hydrocarbon invented in 1939 by Paul Müller, used originally to reduce mosquito populations and prevent the spread of lice during World War II, then eventually used extensively as a pesticide. The widespread and often careless use of this supposed miracle compound greatly alarmed Carson, and as a result, she wrote her book to warn the public about the negative repercussions of DDT on the environment; consequently

Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost. Mercury is commonly bioaccumulated through plants and small organisms like plankton that take up mercury through passive surface absorption, then later biomagnify through the food chain as predators eat other organisms and absorb the contaminants that their food sources contained. The risks of bioaccumulation extend from the tiniest of organisms and increase all the way to human consumption, primarily through fish as the most common way people in the U.S. are exposed to mercury that was passed along the food chain. Similar to mercury, Rachel Carson found that DDT could bioaccumulate as it gets “passed on from one organism to another through all the links of the food chains,” starting as “a very small amount of DDT” and ending up as “a heavy concentration” (23). Since Rachel Carson worked so hard to inform the public of this harm in the bioaccumulation of DDT, she would have been concerned that people are still being negatively affected by pesticides and chemicals today and would say that these toxins must be eradicated wherever

The problems she targeted in the past have only expanded into modern times as they have accurately influenced more and more ecosystems worldwide. Pesticides and other man-made chemical compounds are the main source of these environmental issues, and Carson would have continued to campaign for the halt of the use of chemicals. Although pesticides and chemicals are continuing to harm the environment, Rachel's book was a monumental wake up call to humans, as it revealed how much damage we are causing every day to ourselves and our surroundings. Arguably thanks to Rachel Carson’s hard work and dedication to advocating against man-made chemicals, DDT was finally banned in the United States in 1972. Rachel’s legacy still carries on today, and her work, specifically within “Silent Spring,” continues to bring awareness to the present major environmental issues— marking it as one of the most influential books of the twentieth