Silent Spring: The Impact of DDT on the Environment and Wildlife - Prof. Gregory Moller, Study notes of Food science

Download Silent Spring: The Impact of DDT on the Environment and Wildlife - Prof. Gregory Moller and more Study notes Food science in PDF only on Docsity! Lecture 2 Notes and Discussion/Homework Questions: Silent Spring Lecture 2 discussion questions: 1. What does the title Silent Spring mean? Explain its long-term significance. 2. What criticisms were made of Carson’s ideas? Do any of them seem valid to you? 3. Should any chemical that harms wildlife or their food sources be banned? 4. If you regard Silent Spring in its historical context, how have things changed as you observe our present time? 5. Debate the pros and cons of pesticide use in agriculture. _______________________________ Rachel Carson - Silent Spring lecture notes: "Over increasingly large areas of the United States spring now comes unheralded by the return of birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song." Rachael Carson, 1962, Silent Spring World Health Organization credits DDT with saving 50,000,000 lives. • Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane "Now I had done what I could. Now it had its own life." -- she tied emotion in with science. The chemical companies claimed she'd lied and Silent Spring was inaccurate. Tried to stop her from publishing it. 600 million lbs of DDT were dumped per year before 1962. Homework questions: 1. What are the chemical properties and environmental fate of DDT that account for its ecotoxicological impact? (4 sentence max) 2. Describe the positive and negative results of DDT use. (4 sentence max) 3. What are the observed toxicological endpoints of DDT exposure in birds? (4 sentence max) 4. Describe the role played by Silent Spring in the development of the modern American environmental movement. (4 sentence max) The “Glory Years” for DDT • 1945-1960, used to control agricultural pests as well as disease- carrying insects. • Other chlorinated insecticides discovered. – Chlordane, dieldrin, mirex, lindane, methoxychlor, etc. • Massive insect-control projects undertaken. – Gypsy moth (4 million acres sprayed ‘54-’58) Dutch elm disease, Fire ant. • Growth in DDT production. – 1953 38 million pounds; 1957 84 million Silent Spring” published in 1962. • Written by Rachel Carson, a respected marine biologist.