However, there has been a puzzling and troubling trend in recent years: an attack on her theory by conservatives and the agrochemical (农用化学品) industry.For example, Rush Limbaugh gave the following quiz: “Who caused more deaths: Adolf Hitler or Rachel Carson?” Limbaugh's answer was Carson, due to the approximately 100 million deaths from malaria (疟疾) since 1972, the year in which the pesticide (杀虫剂)DDT was banned for use in the United States in part as a result of “Silent Spring.”
Therefore, on this 40th anniversary of Carson's death, we need to take a scientific look at the myths that remain about pesticides.
Myth 1: Pesticide usage has declined since 1962.In fact, pesticide usage has more than doubled since 1962, and the global pesticide industry currently uses over 2.5 million tons of pesticides each year.Even DDT is still used abroad.
Myth 2: Pesticides are safe.In fact, as Carson warned us, these poisonous chemicals are unsafe since they are designed to kill biological organisms, but are often not specific in their targets.Pesticide exposure can cause skin irritation, headache, cancer and even death.According to the WHO, over 25 million people a year in developing countries suffer severe acute pesticide poisonings with over 20,000 deaths.
Of the 80,000 pesticides and other chemicals in use today, 10 percent are recognized as carcinogens (致癌物质).According to recent studies, brain cancer rates are five times higher in homes with “no-pest” strips and six times higher in homes where pets wear flea collars (杀蚤颈圈).Our homes have pesticide concentrations 10 to 100 times higher than outdoors.
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