Rachel Carson and the Impact of her Studies

Overview

This site is about Rachel Carson and her warnings to the world about using these toxic chemicals in everyday life. 

• Rachel Carson: Quick Overview
• Pesticides: Carson's Research

Team

          Alex Dennis

          Rachel Griffith

          Lia Snow

Background on Rachel Carson

           Rachel Carson was born in 1907 in a small rural town in Pennsylvania, from these beginnings she went on to be an ecologist, scientist and a writer. She graduated from Chatham College, formally known as Pennsylvania College for Women, and received her MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins. She was then hired to write radio scripts during the Great Depression by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and some of her writings would appear as articles in the Baltimore Sun. Carson was an inovator and her goal was to inform the world about the hazardous and harmful effects pesticides and herbicides. She succeeded with this goal by speaking boldly against the use of harmful chemicals through pamphlets, books, and talks. She was so adament about this issue that the government considered her an alarmist. Carson recognized and wrote about issues that were ahead of her time; now the government is trying to find better regulation on this use, and are trying to create plans that will help reverse the negative effects of pesticides and herbicides.

Toxic Chemicals:

Chorloronated Hydrocarbons:

     Chloronated Hydrocarbons are used as insecticides in many countries. An example of cholornated hydrocarbons is DDT. DDT was introduced in 1942 durring WWII and it saved millions from vectored diseases such as malaria and thyphus. Some advantages of using chloronated hydrocarbons are improved effciacy, lower use rates, lower costs, and greater persistence. However the disadvantages out wiegh the advantages to the extent that the its use has been banned in the US. These insecticides cause acute toxic affects to the nervous system including tremors and involuntary muscle movements. Research is showing that it also may affect the endocrine system specifically sex hormones. It can alter the reproductive development and successs of different animals.

Alkyl Phosphates

     Alkyl phosphates such as parathion and malathion are used to control insects and mites. The chemicals act by interfering with activies of cholinesterace, which is an enzyme essention for the working of the nervous system in both humans and animals.