Rachel Carson Research Paper

Silent Spring was a controversial book written by Rachel Carson about the effects of DDT on animals, plants, and even humans. To this day, fifty years later, the book has still received criticism for exaggerating and misinforming the readers about the real effects of DDT. Rachel Carson, while exaggerating information, is correct in her studies of the effects of DDT. Rachel Carson states fairly early on in Silent Spring that when DDT is sprayed in large areas it can easily run in water. DDT is a mist-type spray sprayed over crops and farms to kill insects that many people find annoying. Ruled by an EPA Hearing Administrator “The use of DDT under the regulations involved here do not have a deleterious effect on freshwater fish, estuarine organisms, wild birds or other wildlife.” (Sweeny) however, stated earlier in Carson’s book it does. DDT ran off from crops into rivers where nearly all the fish in the stream died. Gold fish were put in tanks and were dead in a couple of hours. Any other animals that ingested the water died as well. DDT was sprayed in amounts agreed on the farmers, thus …show more content…
This deadly disease is spread through mosquitoes and is mostly spread throughout africa. According to one anti Rachel Carson website, DDT didn’t produce any effect in large amounts in people. In Silent Spring Rachel Carson talked of one woman who sprayed DDT throughout her basement regularly. Every time she sprayed she’d get a slight fever but recover quickly. After weeks of temporary recovery she fell even more ill. After having a doctor examine her, it was found she had mild Leukemia. This actually happened twice with two different people in the same scenario. Controlling the spread of Malaria through DDT will just make the people more ill and susceptible to accumulating illness by breaking down the body’s natural immune system which isn’t wanted. DDT is made to kill, not help save