Synthetic Pesticides In Silent Spring By Rachel Carson

A man lays in a hospital bed waiting nervously as the physician thumbs through paperwork and test results. The news is devastating. The man, a local farmer who has grown soybeans in the area for the past 20 years, is diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The doctor goes on to inform the man that his long-term exposure to the toxic chemicals used in treating his crops may have put him at substantial risk for this diagnosis as they have been linked to this type of cancer in studies. The farmer remains still and quiet, thinking about all the precautions he took to ensure his safety and the safety of his family. He wore the chemical suit and the respirator when it was recommended, he always wore his protective gloves and handled the pesticides

In 1962, Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson, resulted in the beginning of an environmental movement that continues today, and perhaps led to the banning of DDT, after it brought to public attention the devastating effects that synthetic pesticides had on the environment where they were used. According to the most recent Annual Cancer Report (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016), there are currently just over 120 chemicals being used by the agricultural industry that are considered to be either possible, probable, or likely human carcinogens. One chemical on this list which was deemed as probably carcinogenic in 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup which has been manufactured by Monsanto since 1974 after DDT was banned, and is now used worldwide with particular popularity in the United States. Although Monsanto continues to proclaim the safety of its product, a study published in Entropy in 2013 claims that human consumption of glyphosate residue through the industrial use of Roundup in agriculture leads to consequences such as “gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease” (Samsel

For example, food that is organically grown does not mean that it is necessarily grown without pesticides but rather requires the use of naturally derived chemicals. Because studies show that about the same number of natural chemicals are carcinogenic as synthetic chemicals, some argue that the sale of expensive organic food is little more than a scam and others simply don’t see the point of paying that much when they feel they are getting the same product. The New York Times reported that Stanford University scientists did report lower levels of pesticide residue detected on the organic food and the organic meat that was tested was “less likely to be infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria” (Chang, 2012). Those who argue against the organic movement may also not be taking into consideration the ethical reasons that some people choose these products. Organic farming means that there is no genetic engineering of animals, the administering of growth hormones and antibiotics is not allowed, and the living conditions for livestock are safer, healthier, and more natural. Although organic food is more expensive for consumers, many see the value in continuing to seek these products and consider them worth the extra