Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

concentrate thes e pois ons in their diges tive organs and othe r tissues. Both types of shellfish are
normally eaten whole and sometimes raw. Dr. Philip Butler of the Bureau of C omme rci a l
Fis heries has pointed out an ominous parallel in that we may find ours elves in the s ame
situation as the robins. The robins , he reminds us , did not die as a direct res ult of the s praying
of DDT. They died becaus e they had eaten earthworms that had already concentrate d the
pes ticides in their tiss ues....
Although the s udden death of thous ands of fis h or crus taceans in s ome s tream or pond as the
direct and visible effect of insect control is dramatic and alarming, these unseen and as yet
largely unknown and unmeas urable effects of pes ticides reaching estuaries indirectly in streams
and rivers may in the end be more dis as trous. The whole s ituation is bes et with ques tions for
which the re are at pres ent no s atis factory ans wers. We know that pes ticides contained in
runoff from farms and fores ts are now being carried to the s ea in the waters of many and
perhaps all of the major rivers. But we do not know the identity of all the chemicals or their
total quantity, and we do not pres ently have any dependable tes ts for identifying them in highly
diluted s tate once they have reached the s ea. Although we know that the che micals have
almost certainly undergone change during the long period of trans it, we do not know whether
the altered chemical is more toxic than the original or less. Another almost unexplored area is
the ques tion of inte ractions betwee n chemicals , a ques tion that becomes especially urgent
when they ente r the marine environment where s o many different mine rals are s ubjected to
mixing and trans port. All of thes e ques tions urgently require the precis e ans wers that only
extensive research can provide, yet funds for s uch purpos es are pitifully s mall.
The fisheries of fresh and salt water are a resource of great importance, involving the interests
and the welfare of a very large number of people. That the y are now s erious ly threatene d by
the che micals entering our wate rs can no longer be doubte d. If we would divert to cons tructive
res earch even a s mall fraction of the money s pent each year on the development of ever more
toxic s prays , we could find ways to us e les s dangerous materials and to keep pois ons out of our
waterways. When will the public become sufficiently aware of the facts to demand such action?