The birth of Environmentalism

Silent Spring and the story of DDT
If the birth of modern environmentalism could be pinpointed, the date would be 1962. This was the year in which Rachel Carson, the writer, scientist and ecologist, published her legendary book, Silent Spring.
In Silent Spring, Carson exposed the perils of the indiscriminate use of pesticides, particularly DDT.
Some twenty years earlier DDT had been identified as a powerful insecticide without precedent. It was hailed as a miracle compound and sprayed intensively on agricultural crops. People did not realise that it could cause massive harm to the environment and to human health until Carson sounded the alarm.
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Rachel Carson (1907-1964).
The discovery of DDT
DDT (or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), the first synthetic insecticide, was originally formulated in 1873 by a German scientist. Its inventor did not realise its potential as an insecticide. The chemical was re-discovered by Paul Hermann Müller of Switzerland in 1939. Müller's aim was to create the perfect insecticide and his identification of DDT's potency was heralded as a breakthrough.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in 1948 for his work with this miracle compound, principally for its dramatic effect on reducing insect-borne diseases such as malaria and typhoid.
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Paul Hermann Müller (1899-1965).
Chemical companies published posters to advertise their strength: 'Chemical industry, upheld by pure science, sustains the production of man's necessities'.
Early uses of DDT
In the 1940s and 50s DDT was regarded as having almost magical powers because of its unique and impressive properties. Unlike most pesticides, which attack one or two types of insect, it was capable of exterminating hundreds of different species.
Yet despite its effectiveness it appeared to have low toxicity to mammals. Furthermore it did not break down rapidly in the environment, so frequent reapplications were not needed. It was also inexpensive and easy to apply.
Despite the fact that it was obviously an extremely toxic substance, very few people expressed doubt about the safety or repercussions of DDT use. This was typical of the time - scientific progress was perceived to be unquestionably beneficial while the conquering of nature by humans was a necessary and just battle.
DDT in World War II
During World War II, DDT earned its formidable reputation as a scourge of the insect world. The compound was effective against lice, fleas and mosquitoes: the carriers of typhus, plague, malaria and yellow fever.
It was used to clear South Pacific islands of mosquitoes for US troops while the shirts of soldiers, refugees and prisoners of war were impregnated with it to prevent attacks by lice. DDT was used in many further conflicts, including the Korean and Vietnam wars, until it was banned in 1972.
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The Korean Conflict (1950-53): An American soldier is dusted with DDT powder.
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US army footage of the application of DDT.
Civilian use- Pest control and cocktails
DDT was cleared for civilian application in 1945. It was applied in urban aerial sprays to control the mosquito, gypsy moth, Japanese beetle and other insects. At ground level it was used to clean and decontaminate streets, houses, drains and livestock.
It was also used to control pest attacks on agricultural crops. The new insecticide was so effective that it significantly increased crop yields and improved world food production.
Phil Baker recounts in the Dedalus Book of Absinthe that in the 1950s DDT was thought to be so safe that some enterprising drinkers invented the 'Mickey Slim', a cocktail made of gin mixed with a pinch of DDT. Fans of this concoction claimed that it produced a warm, jittery feeling reminiscent of the effects of drinking absinthe.

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Dusting a crop field with DDT.
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Footage of DDT being used to 'clean up' an American town in 1946. At the time, no one doubted that it was safe.
The book
One person who did express doubts about the miracle compound was Rachel Carson. She was disturbed by the profligate use of DDT and evidence of the high mortality of wildlife in those areas.
It took her four years to complete Silent Spring, a book which combines meticulous research and passionate, evocative prose. Carson painstakingly described how DDT enters the food chain and accumulates in the fatty tissues of animals, including human beings, causing cancer and genetic damage.
She revealed that a single crop application persists in the environment for months, remaining highly toxic. Carson reported that DDT and other pesticides had irrevocably harmed birds and other animals and contaminated the entire world food supply. She predicted massive destruction of the planet's fragile ecosystems unless more was done to halt the 'rain of chemicals.'
Carson struck a mighty blow against the chemicals industry that produced the pesticides and urged humanity to question its faith in technological progress.
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The first edition of Silent Spring, 1962.
DDT and the food chain
DDT accumulates in animals, including humans, in two ways:
Firstly, it builds up in individuals directly when they eat something which has been sprayed with it. DDT does not break down easily. Animals do not excrete much of the DDT they ingest so stores accumulate within the body over time. DDT is more soluble in fat than in water so it is deposited and stored in body fat.
Secondly, DDT accumulates indirectly because it increases in concentration as it moves up the food chain. That's because herbivores have to eat large quantities of plant material to obtain energy and carnivores have to eat many times their body weight of prey (usually herbivores) during their lifetime. Since DDT is not excreted, the carnivore accumulates most of the DDT present in all the prey animals it eats. Generally, the higher up the food chain the predator, the greater the concentration of DDT.
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The peregrine falcon, at the top of the food chain, is susceptible to accumulating large amounts of DDT.
How DDT accumulates
The DDT problem is exacerbated because the compound greatly increases in concentration as it moves up the food chain. How does this work?
This example is based on a study carried out in 1967 at a marsh in Long Island, USA. The marsh had been sprayed with DDT to control mosquitoes.
Water contained 0.00005 parts per million of DDT
Plankton contained 0.04 parts per million of DDT
Silverside minnow (feeds on plankton) contained 0.23 parts per million of DDT
Needlefish (feeds on silverside minnows) contained 2.07 parts per million of DDT
Cormorant (feeds on needlefish) contained 26.4 parts per million of DDT
The effects of DDT
The use of DDT in the United States nearly drove many predatory birds, including bald eagles, brown pelicans and peregrine falcons, to local extinction. DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, caused them to produce eggs with thin, fragile shells that cracked during incubation, killing the unborn chicks.
DDE has also been found in the fatty tissues and breast milk of communities of Inuit people in the Arctic. The DDT was transported in the atmosphere and then washed down by rains. DDE is the most widespread contaminant in human milk around the world.
Further evidence of the dangers of DDT has come to light since the 1960s. It is increasingly believed that at high concentrations, and for long-term exposures, it can be involved with certain cancers and reproductive abnormalities in humans and other mammals. In 2001 a study revealed that exposure to the chemical in the 1960s has been implicated in the incidence of premature human births in the United States.
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The bald eagle, America's national bird, was nearly driven to extinction in some parts of the United States by the use of DDT.
The response to Silent Spring
When Silent Spring was published in 1962, the chemical industry, supported by the Agriculture Department and many in the media, quickly launched a vitriolic counter-attack. 'If man were to faithfully follow the teachings of Miss Carson,' railed an executive of the American Cyanamid Company, 'we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth.'
Some of the attacks were more personal, questioning Carson's credibility as a scientist and even her sanity.
Deriding her as 'hysterical', Monsanto published a brochure parodying Silent Spring. Entitled The Desolate Year, it described a world where famine, disease and insects flourished because chemical pesticides had been banned.
The chemical industry's campaign was in vain - Silent Spring became an international bestseller. In response to the outcry provoked by the book, President John F. Kennedy called for a committee to examine the issues it raised.
The committee's report endorsed Carson's accusations, exposing corporate culpability and bureaucratic indifference. DDT came under much closer government supervision and was eventually banned in the United States in 1972. However, its use continued in many other parts of the world.
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Rachel Carson conducting research. The chemical companies she criticised tried in vain to destroy her reputation as a scientist.
Praying Mantis cartoon.
The Stockholm Convention
In December 2000, 122 nations signed a treaty, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), in which they agreed to phase out DDT and 11 other organic pesticides completely. These pesticides are termed 'organic' because they contain carbon.
According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), of all the pollutants released into the environment every year by human activity, POPs constitute some of the most dangerous. The twelve compounds, 'or dirty dozen', selected for elimination are chemical substances that persist in the environment and accumulate up the food chain, damaging wildlife, human health and the environment.
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In Africa obsolete pesticides are a major health hazard.
Aldrin is one of the twelve Persistent Organic Pollutants selected for elimination.
A major clean up operation aims to clear all pesticide stockpiles over the next 15 years.
DDT makes a comeback
The Stockholm Convention has not been taken up everywhere. Scientists in South Africa, Kenya and some other African countries have lifted the ban on DDT because of its effectiveness in killing malaria-transmitting mosquitoes and tsetse flies that cause sleeping sickness. They argue that despite the damage DDT is known to inflict on the environment, many more people die from malaria than would die from DDT-related illnesses. They believe that the benefits outweigh the risks.
It is a highly contentious issue as to whether or not DDT is a necessary evil in some developing countries. Supporters of its use argue that if it is applied at certain doses and with discrimination, DDT is not as dangerous as its reputation suggests. But most agree that if its use continues, the targeted pest species are likely to develop resistance to it. When that happens, there will be no choice but to find an alternative solution.
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Certain mosquitoes transmit malaria which is responsible for over one million deaths every year in Africa, mainly among young children.
Legacy
Silent Spring is regarded as a cornerstone in the history of environmentalism. In sounding the alarm about the harmful effects of pesticide use, Rachel Carson challenged the widely accepted notion that man was destined to control nature and the modern environmental movement was born. Despite what is known about DDT, one of the most notorious pesticides of all, its use is being re-instigated in various developing countries.
But unlike the era that preceded Silent Spring, there is now widespread public debate on its use. Since the 1960s, awareness of environmental issues and participation in protest activities has grown exponentially. A new generation of environmentalists, many of whom read and were inspired by Rachel Carson's book, continue to campaign to keep the debate about pesticide use alive and to make industry accountable for the chemicals it produces and sells.
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Bhopal gas disaster survivors and supporters protest outside the Dow Chemical Company headquarters in Mumbai, India.