Rachel Carson’s Educational Background Essays Examples

Rachel Carson’s educational background largely focuses on the subject of zoology. She graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women, while also studying with the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. She further went on to John Hopkins University to get her Masters in Zoology.

The Issue in “Silent Springs”

Rachel was attempting the world to understand about the harms of using pesticides such as DDT and the rest. She further wanted to elucidate how the first world nations were dumping extremely toxic pesticides to the third world nations like Mexico, much to the harm of these third world nations. These toxic pesticides were as dangerous and harmful for the humans as they were for the wildlife. The birds and insects alike were hit by the side-effects and toxicity of these pesticides; even as the humans were adversely affected as well resulting in problems such as sterility, birth defects, cancer etc. In comparison, the birds too were having side effects such as thin shelled eggs, sterility etc.

Validity of her Warnings

Over years, several researches have been conducted in the light of the warnings that Carson brought to front with respect to the pesticides being used. All the researches have come to the same conclusion: the toxicity of these pesticides which were being used so liberally was extremely high and harmful. In several estates, the farm hands had to suffer grievous losses in terms of family and health simply because of their use of these pesticides.
For instance, in Nicaragua, the workers on a banana estate have suffered sterility, cancer and birth defects in children simply because of their use of a pesticide called as dibromochloropropane or DBCP. Similar problems were faced by workers in a farm in Ecuador as well. The farm owner started using a new pesticide which was claimed to be miraculous, killing the tiny worms which disfigured or spoilt the fruits grown on that farm making them unfit for the American consumer. However, that pesticide would also kill animals such as frogs, pigs, birds etc. In a study conducted on the workers in a petroleum plant in California, it was found that the use of DBCP resulted in sterility amongst the workers. While the pesticide was immediately banned in the United States, the farm owners continued the usage in countries outside of United States. Another pesticide that goes by the name of Ethyl Parathion has also claimed more than 100 lives while thousands of others were affected by its usage. Researchers also proved that this pesticide could travel distances by settling in the form of a fog or by seeping into the soil and water system. The vegetables too were absorbing this pesticide in high quantity making the vegetables extremely toxic.
While the examples mentioned above are simply a touch of the iceberg, a number of such pesticides remain which have been proven in recent times to be extremely toxic in nature. While the consumers face the risks by consuming the food grown by use of such pesticides, the growers are the worst hit.

Effects on Dealings with Pesticides

Post her books and the video, more and more people became enlightened with regards to the topic. Researches began and the facts which were presented by Carson were established and proven. This led to several pesticides being banned in the United States, even as the farm workers of other nations which were still using these harmful pesticides filed lawsuits against the companies supplying these pesticides to third world nations. Several companies such as Shell Oil, Dow Chemical and Occidental Chemical etc were facing these lawsuits filed by thousands of farm workers from various third world nations.

Impact on Environment Law by Carson

Realizing the harmful impact of these pesticides on the the environment, wildlife and humans, the United States government banned DDT, even as other nations too followed suit eventually. In several lawsuits, which were filed against the chemical companies producing these deadly pesticides, the farm hands won and were granted millions of dollars as a settlement against their losses. What can be said as a milestone in the efforts by Rachel Carson, however, would be the establishment of the US Environmental Protection Agency, even as laws were passed banning the use of DDT on a household level. Several other laws were passed with the notion of protecting the environment and human health. It may be said that Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring proved to be an eye opener for all and led to the establishment of the laws and concerns regarding pesticides as we see them today.

Circle of Poison

According to the research conducted by Ms Carson, the US sold toxic pesticides to third world nations such as Mexico. In an irony, the United States itself depends heavily on the food imports from these very nations. According to her reports, 50 percent of the frozen food imported to United States came from Mexico alone. Thus, all the toxicity being sent by the US to Mexico was being returned back to the US in the form of food. This rotation of toxicity was called as the “Circle of Poison”.