11. Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias
THE CONTAMINATION of our world is not alone a matter of mas s s praying. Indeed, for
most of us this is of less importa nce than the innume rable small-scale expos ures to which we
are s ubjected day by day, year after year. Like the cons tant dripping of water that in turn wears
away the hardes t s tone, this birth-to-death contact with dangerous chemicals may in the end
prove dis as trous. Each of thes e recurrent expos ures , no matte r how s light, contributes to the
prog res s ive buildup of che micals in our bodies and s o to c umulative pois oning. P roba bly no
pers on is immune to contact with this s preading contamination unles s he lives in the mos t
isolated situation imaginable. Lulled by the s oft s ell and the hidden persuader, the average
citizen is seldom aware of the deadly materials with which he is surrounding himself: indeed, he
may not realize he is using them at all. So thoroughly has the age of pois ons become
es tablis hed that anyone may walk into a s tore and, without ques tions being as ked, buy
s ubs tances of far greater death-dealing power than the me dicinal drug for which he may be
requi red to s ign a ‘pois on book’ in the pharmacy next door. A few minutes ’ res earch in any
s uperma rket is enough to alarm the mos t s touthearted cus tome r—provided, that is , he has
even a rudime ntary knowledge of the chemicals pres ented for his choice.
If a huge s kull and cros s bones were s us pended above the ins ecticide department the cus tomer
might at leas t enter it with the res pect normally accorded death-dealing materials. But instead
the dis play is homey and chee rful, and, with the pickles and olives across the aisle and the bath
and laundry s oaps adjoining, the rows upon rows of insecticides are dis played. Within eas y
reach of a child’s exploring hand are chemicals in glass containers. If dropped to the floor by a
child or careles s adult every one nearby could be s plas hed with the s ame che mical that has s ent
s praymen us ing it into convuls ions. Thes e hazards of cours e follow the purc has er right into his
home. A can of a mothproofing material containing , for example, carries in very fine print the
warning that its contents are unde r pres s ure and that it may burs t if expos ed to heat or open
flame. A common ins ecticide for hous ehold us e, including ass orted us es in the kitchen, is
chlordane. Yet the Food and Drug Adminis tration’s chief pharmacologis t has declared the
hazard of living in a hous e s prayed with chlordane to be ‘very great’. Other hous ehold
prepa rations contain the even more toxic dieldrin.
Us e of pois ons in the kitchen is made both attractive and eas y. Kitchen s helf paper, white or
tinted to match one’s color s cheme, may be impregnate d with i ns ecticide, not me rely on one
but on both s ides. Manufacture rs offer us do-it-yours elf booklets on how to kill bugs. With
pus h-button eas e, one may s end a fog of dieldrin into the mos t inaccess ible nooks and crannies
of cabinets , corners , and bas eboards. If we are troubled by mos quitoes , chiggers , or other
ins ect pes ts on our pers ons we have a choice of innume rable lotions, creams, and sprays for
application to clothing or skin. Although we are warned that some of these will dissolve varnis h,
paint, and s ynthetic fabrics , we are pres umably to infer that the human s kin is impervious to
chemicals. To make certain that we shall at all times be prepared to repel insects, an exclusive
New York store advertises a pocket-s ized ins ecticide dis pens er, s uitable for the purs e or f or
beach, golf, or fis hing gear.
We can polish our floors with a wax guaranteed to kill any insect that walks over it. We can
hang s trips impregnated with the chemical lindane in our closets and garment bags or place