Preview

A Test on Rachel Carson's Book Silent Spring

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1253 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Test on Rachel Carson's Book Silent Spring
AP Biology/Pd. 2
11/13/13
“Silent Springs” Test
Content Questions:
1. Carlson classifies modern insecticides into two groups of chemicals. The first group, represented by DDT, is known as the “chlorinated hydrocarbons” and the other group, represented by Malathion and parathion, consists of the organic phosphorus insecticides. Although both are organic, the organic phosphorous insecticides are more poisonous than the chlorinated hydrocarbons and have the ability to destroy enzymes.
2. When insecticides “are built on a basis of carbon atoms,” it is both ingenious and threatening because carbon atoms are the basic building blocks of the living world. They can be modified to become the chemistry of all life, but they can also be modified to become the agents of death.
3. Carbon is a basic element whose atoms have almost an infinite capacity for uniting with each other through chains, rings, and other various configurations. Also, its ability to link with atoms of other substances allows the element to serve as a basis for other naturally occurring molecules and a wide variety of synthetic pesticides.
4. The ingestion and accumulation of DDT and other insecticides even when foods directly treated with these chemicals are avoided is possible because it can be present as tiny residue on foodstuffs that was not necessarily injected. DDT and other insecticides are passed on from one organism to another through all the links of the food chains and can also be passed on from mother to offspring. Storage at low levels then makes these chemicals a threat that is able to persist for a long time.
5. The organic phosphorous insecticides attack the nervous system by destroying enzymes that perform necessary functions in the body such as cholinesterase that destroys the transmitting chemical acetylcholine.
6. Malathion is considered the least toxic of the organic phosphates because the mammalian liver is able to detoxify the substance using one of its enzymes, rendering

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Agriculture was first started around the year 8,000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia. There the plants grew along with food so humans could eat them. These first parts of farming faced many challenges with insects and pests eating away their crops. During the era of 1000 B.C.E. the Chinese began experimenting with elements such as mercury and other compounds to contain the insects. Other civilizations would use chemicals to contain pests. The usage of chemicals has occupied agriculture, and even more recently in the 1940’s inorganic substances composed of various elements were heavily used to contain the insects affecting the crops. The growth of many synthetic pesticides occurred during this time, the most common one was DDT. DDT was used the most…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Silent Spring was the right science book published at the right time. It brought the concerns about environmental to the general public. It led to a nationwide ban on DDT and the creation of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. DDT’s insecticidal action was discovered by the Swiss chemist in 1939 ("DDT"). The widely use in agricultural started after the World War II. The Swiss chemist was even awarded the Nobel Prize since DDT was so efficiency to kill inserts. Nevertheless people did not notice that DDT was also a great threat to the environmental and wildlife especially birds. People like to talk about sustainable development in recent years; DDT is a great counter example of it. Although it is very efficiency to kill inserts, it…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through our wide span utilization of chemicals, we’ve altered the condition of our Earth in unpretentious ways. Such chemicals include arsenic (which is a supreme cancer causer) and DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloror-ethane). With the mentioning of DDT, the idea is introduced that these toxins not only stick to our bodies by hiding in our fats and bones but also act as mutations that can be carried on to our next generations. She spends the majority of the chapter listing off other pesticides like Dieldrin, Heptachlor, Chlordane, and Aldrin. She also talks of herbicides which are chemicals that kill plants…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson is regarded as the most significant environmental novel as it was the start of the environmental movement. This book highlights the human poisoning of the biosphere through chemicals aimed at pests and disease control, particularly dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). DDT pesticides were particularly harmful because as they entered the biosphere, they not only killed the bugs but also entered the food chain. DDT accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals and humans which had potential to cause cancer and genetic damage. This also contaminated world food supply as DDT can enter any animal that we eat. Despite the immense effect of DDT some insects survived and passed on their resistance resulting in tougher descendants, so more toxic insecticides needed to be…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A pesticide called neonicotinoids is one example of how pesticides are harmful to bees. Lund University conducted a research study. They looked at 16 fields of oilseed rape, which is a major source of vegetable oil. Half the seeds were coated in a neonicotinoid, and a fungicide. They then placed bees near the neonictinoid…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unlike most pesticides, DDT is not limited to destroy just 1 or 2 different types of insects. It kills hundreds. In 1945 DDT became accessible to the general public, however just a few of individuals who were able to draw distinctive conclusions about this new wonder compound. The first being author Edwin Way Teale, who cautioned, "A shower as unpredictable as DDT can agitate the economy of nature as much as a transformation upsets social economy. Ninety percent of all insects are great, and in the event that they are killed, natures balance is altered.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Our modern society and technology revolves around many different chemical compounds. Advances in the chemical field of herbicides or pesticides, while being beneficial to our society, can come at a price. Without proper testing and research, harmful chemical compounds may be released into the environment unknowingly. Some compounds, even though thoroughly tested, may only exhibit malicious effects years after being introduced to the environment. Such a case would be the story of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was an herbicide used in the Vietnam War by South Vietnam and the United States to try to get rid of the jungle in which the Vietcong used as cover. Unfortunately, the herbicide contained an extremely dangerous and potent compound 2,3,7,8, - tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), or commonly referred to as just dioxin (Herbicides). TCDD has caused many ill effects in people who have been exposed to it, and it was not only until years after the widespread use in the war that it was discovered to be exceedingly dangerous.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Donepezil Essay

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Majority of the OPs are been used as non-specific insecticides for fifty years, to control many different types of insects in household and agriculture environment. The OP pesticides synthesis on large scale started after World War 2, among them parathion was the first marketed product, followed by [Malathion and azinphosmethyl]. The commonly used OP insecticides includes ethyl parathion, methyl parathion etc. in the 1970s the organochlorine insecticides were banned because they gradually increases in the environment.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rachel Carson revealed the dangers imposed by indiscriminate pesticide use in her 1962 book, Silent Spring. Although Carson used DDT as her focus, the chemical was an example of the numerous synthesized pesticides employed in many aspects of mankind’s daily lives. As a biologist with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Carson was alerted to the “numerous case reports of damage to birds and fish after DDT application” and believed that “because DDT was so effective, it unbalanced ecosystems” (Oreskes (2010) page 219). Carson expanded her research and eventually published her revealing book to alert the public and bring an end to indiscriminate use. The book made numerous claims against pesticides, illustrated the destruction caused by prior use and warned of a future in which “over increasingly large areas… spring comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song” (Carson (1962) page 88).…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Barn Owls

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pesticides, such as DDT, organophosphates, and PBCs can be extremely detrimental to birds of all sorts. Pesticides are used to control insect…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bee Disappearance

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Berenbaum said more than 100 different chemicals — not just the pesticides that may be banned in Europe — have been found in bee colonies. Scientists find it hard to calculate how they react in different dosages and at different combinations, she said.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Earth is bursting with luscious vegetation and beautiful creatures, and the human race has the luxury of enjoying all of this around them. Humans relish in the food produced from plants, the role they play in keeping animals alive, and the pure beauty of plants. They also benefit from insects that aid the plants, the food that animals produce, and the company they provide, from pets to the bugs humans encounter every day. Animals cannot survive without plants, and plants would not be on earth without animals. Some animals even need certain types of plants to survive (ECOSYSTEMS). Now imagine a blanket of white powder covering parts of Earth, to kill the all the species of insects. This white powder would poison the insects it was trying to kill off, but would go further than that. It would silence the birds, kill the fish, exterminate the plants, and even harm humans. This mysterious powder was beginning to become more known and accepted as a mean for terminating insects. Why could an insecticide so detrimental become so widely used?…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Risk Assessment Paper

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hazard identification is an important part of learning about pesticides and whether or not to use them. This asks the question; Does exposure to substance caused increased likelihood of adverse health effects such as cancer or birth defects. When planning to use chemicals like Malathion it is important to learn as much as possible about it. Malathion is a man-made organophosphate insecticide that is commonly used to control mosquitos and a variety of insects that attack fruits vegetables, landscaping plants, and shrubs. (Department of Health, 2009). Malathion is also used indoors to control insects and ticks on pets like cats and dogs. Short-term exposure to high levels of Malathion affects the nervous system causing increased heart rate, nausea, headaches, diarrhea, and cramps. I have found no information on long-term effects on humans due to exposure. This doesn’t mean that is none, it means…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pesticides don’t kill all insects; a few individuals have mutations that give them some resistance to it. When they reproduce they pass on this trait to their offspring. Since all non-resistant insects are killed, this allows the few resistant insects to take over the population---over time all insects in the area become pesticide resistant.…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    DDT is an organochlorine used for its properties as a pesticide. Following WWII, DDT was used widespread in agriculture in the United States. DDT, in the form of “sprays, dusts, and aerosols,” was “applied almost universally to farms, gardens, forests, and . . . [had] the power to kill every insect, the ‘good’ and the ‘bad.’” In 1962, Rachael Carson published Silent Spring in which she discusses the impact DDT usage had on the environment and public health. Even though “the intended target may be only a few weeds or insects,” it killed everything and left behind “a deadly film.” She insisted that DDT “not be called ‘insecticides,’ but ‘biocides’” due to its dangerous effects. For example, Carson correlates the use of the pesticide with cases of cancer and showed evidence to suggest that DDT was especially hazardous to bird populations. The chemical caused the shell of bird eggs to be thinner than normal, making them more fragile. Populations of Bald Eagles and certain species of hawks plummeted. In addition, Carson argued that DDT was “of concern to us all” and that “if we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals . . . we had better know something about their nature and their power.” A proper investigation of the long-term health effects of DDT was never carried out prior to the release of the chemical to the general public. Big industry responded to Carson by working to discredit her. They did not want to admit their mistake and take responsibility. DDT was ultimately banned in 1972 from agricultural use; however, the damage had already been…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays