"Rachel Carson is responsible for the death of millions of defenseless Africans"

Providing false or misleading information in some cases produces devastating consequences. Today millions of people around the world particularly in Africa, suffer from the painful and often deadly effects of malaria all because one person sounded a false alarm. That person is Rachel Carson, author of the 1962 bestselling book Silent Spring. Many have praised Carson including the EPA, for raising concerns some legitimate about problems associated with the overuse of chemicals. Yet her extreme rhetoric and unsubstantiated fabrication of the truth generated a culture of fear, resulting in policies that have deprived many people access to life-saving chemicals. In particular, many nations curbed the use of the pesticide DDT for malaria control all because Carson created unfounded suspicions about the chemical. Despite the fact that DDT was banned without public health justifications, many people still believe it is dangerous to public health. While Rachel Carson did not rule out some limited use of DDT, she greatly contributed to perceptions that it was dangerous, which advanced extreme approaches like government bans. Rachel Carson’s legacy is one of misinformation that has cost countless human lives and still continues to take its toll even to this day.

Malaria is often a fatal disease caused by a protozoan that is transmitted to humans via mosquito bites. According to the World Health Organization, malaria kills more than a million people a year, mostly children, and makes more than 300 million seriously ill. Ninety percent of malaria’s victims live in Africa, and most of them are children under the age of five. In Africa, one in 20 children dies from malaria, according to one estimate. Malaria greatly hinders development of Africa and exacerbates the serious problems they already endure due to poverty. However, DDT is still effectively used by some nations for malaria control. For example, Ecuador, which has increased its use of DDT since 1993, has some of the greatest reductions of malaria rates in the world. South Africa relied on DDT until 1996, but then suffered from serious malaria outbreaks after it discontinued use because of environmentalist pressure. Despite the devastating toll associated with reduced use of DDT, many government agencies and environmental activists have been reluctant to change their views due to the misleading information documented by Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson was wrong, humans have now been exposed to massive amounts of DDT without showing significant ill effect. Likewise, unlike Carson’s fables, malaria is a harsh reality today, killing more than a million people a year and making 300 million seriously ill, mostly in the developing world.

Mercury

Mercury can cause permanent damage to your brain and central nervous system, resulting in behavioral or learning problems. It is especially dangerous for young children and fetuses, whose brains are still developing. The health effects depend on how much is absorbed and for how long a person is exposed. For more information checkout the link below…

http://www.mercer.edu/enp/Hg_Knighton.pdf