Rachel Louise Carson: An Environmentalist Against the Folly of HumansMay 27, 1907 was Rachel Louise Carson’s birthday. Google honored her today with a doodle. This would have been her 107th birthday. She died in April 14, 1964, a staunch advocate for environmental protection and preservation resulting in worldwide bans of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)—the first among the synthetic pesticides that has been found to be carcinogenic. There are many more carcinogens. We learned in medical school that we now swim in a sea of carcinogens.
RACHEL CARSON, PATHBREAKING ENVIRONMENTALIST
IN OUR TIME (1907 - 1964)
When I opened Google this morning, I wondered who the doodle was for and then promptly went to the news. I failed to notice that the cartoon was that of a woman and when I logged in again, her name popped out. My brain was slow to recall that the name sounded familiar. I looked at the doodle more closely now and saw the various sea creatures and birds which were part of her domain. I repeated the name again and again until I came to realize that she was the author of Silent Spring which I had read decades ago. The doodle honored an eminent scientist.
That book was an eye opener for me and for many environmentalists. A scientist and an ecologist, she warned that our ecosystem was a fragile one and the indiscriminate use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture, such as pesticides, post-World War II, would have dire consequences in the long term.
As a young medical student, I learned that environmental degradation caused primarily by humans and our wanton misuse of chemicals would eventually affect the ones who were at the top of the food chain—us—because we are a dominant part of the ecosystem where every living thing and the environment where they find themselves in, are intertwined very closely with each other. Of course, Big Pharma went up in protest of her warnings but she stood steadfast in her resolve, to much admiration.
How valid were her concerns?
Today, as a practicing pathologist, almost daily, I sign out cases of cancer from the very young to the very old. But then, I remind myself, that the Cordillera region and other regions as well, use pesticides in practically all farmed areas, save for those who claim to be organic producers whose numbers are not enough to make a significant dent. These range from lung, breast, colo-rectal, prostate, stomach, cervix, uterus, ovaries, etc.
Pollution from various sources, especially smoking and air pollution from vehicles/factories , are among the culprits for the rising incidence of lung cancer in the country. A recent allegedly WHO report cited Baguio City as the most polluted city in the country (denied by WHO country office, according to Mayor Domogan). One does not need to be a smoker to increase risk for lung cancer. Second hand smoke, even third hand smoke, can cause cancer not only in the lungs but other organs, as well. We lost a former city health officer to lung cancer. She never smoked in her life but she was exposed to second hand smoke at home.
An increased public awareness and concern about any lumps of masses discovered in the body that are removed to rule out cancer also contributes to the rising incidence since the tumors are diagnosed earlier. Cancer is a killer and this is a matter of grave concern (no pun intended).
How exposed are we, really?
Everywhere we go, we see farmlands dotted with banners or signboards advertising the fungicide or pesticide used on beautiful, green rice fields. The government has allowed the sale of such chemicals, many of which are banned in other countries that recognize the dangers from their use. Where pest resistance has increased, the danger of crops being wiped out looms large. Farmers don’t want to lose their crops and add a menagerie of pesticides for control. They, too, get over-exposed to the chemicals and get a double whammy—from pesticide spraying, inhaling the chemicals, or contact with the chemicals through the skin. When they eat the rice or produce that they have grown, they get an extra dose from those taken in by the plants and stored in the grain.
At Mt. Kabuyao is located a large catch basin that helps supply needed water during the dry months. This sits below farmed land that liberally uses pesticides and insectides for more bountiful crops. Chicken dung is used everywhere as fertilizer. Guess where the water run off goes when the rains come pouring down? Guess what goes off with the rainwater? Given this scenario, it is not too difficult to imagine or understand that chemicals will find their way into the water supply and into our bodies as we partake of the vegetables grown up there. We should be concerned, shouldn’t we? I suggest a scientific study be made on levels of pesticides in vegetables, the water supply, the local population and correlate this with the rising incidence of various cancers.
Do you ever wonder why it is we are getting lesser and lesser from our rivers and streams that used to harbor dalag (mudfish), hito (catfish) or gurami and other aquatic animals? Do you ever wonder what happened to all those frogs croaking in concert during the rainy season with rice fields serving as nurseries for the hatched tadpoles? As a kid, we used to just dip our hands in the rice field water and easily come up with many tadpoles to play with or keep for a while and watch them as they grew till they started hopping about and gradually lost their tails. We found tadpoles and dalags scurrying away to hide in submerged cans in formerly clean streams that traversed our neighborhood that now are eyesores, testament to the pollution that so-called progress and development and human encroachment has brought along with them. Do you ever wonder if the food you are eating is laced with pesticides and insecticides? All you have to do is turn to the net and try any search engine to look for pesticides and the like.
We dream of a better and safer world but we have become complacent or apathetic creatures partly because we leave everything to the government, hoping they will find solutions that will ensure our safety and health. Another folly, of course, as even government agencies are the reason for the proliferation of various weed killers, pesticides and insecticides that are used in farming. Today, our country also grows genetically modified plants, including rice. Only a few have risen up against GMOs and found themselves in the front pages of some dailies, some trampling the test beds used by the Department of Agriculture which claims that they are safe to grow and consume.
We are in a denial state and have been for many years. Furthermore, we haven’t exerted due diligence to educate ourselves. We want to have food that is safe to serve to our families. How safe do you think they are? On a scale of 0-10, ten being the safest, what level is “safe” for us? Do we know if what we are eating is genetically modified? For government agencies that claim these foods are safe, how did they come to this conclusion? Was it upon recommendation by the manufacturer or producer, since the government agencies do not have the capability to conduct proper scientific tests or perform them on a regular, sustained basis to monitor long-term effects?
We are the only creatures that have been given the ability to create change for the better, or chaos, which is a more common observation. This folly and all the follies that come after that, will surely do us in, in time. Pretty soon, we will realize that disaster could have been averted if we only took action much, much earlier. By then, the realization would have come too late.
Rachel Louise Carson must be looking down on us, shaking her head at man’s folly.
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