Was Rachel Carson a fraud and is DDT actually safe for humans?
According to Marjorie Mazel Hecht and [San Jose State University] professor J. Gordon Edwards at www.21stcenturysciencetech.com, DDT is safe and indeed saved and can save human lives, and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is full of lies. According to them, the banning of DDT was politically motivated and went against the majority of scientific opinion. Yet I consistently hear how dangerous DDT is. What’s the truth here? — Craig Sheldon Cecil Adams replies: Claiming Silent Spring (1962) is full of lies is a bit harsh. Let’s say it contains certain statements at variance with the facts as we now understand them. I’m willing to believe this was a natural result of the fledgling state of environmental science at the time, whereas right-wing conspiracy theorists (who apparently include the parties you mention — Hecht supports crank-for-all-seasons Lyndon LaRouche) see it as evidence of a campaign of deceit by the liberal cabal. We could spend pages debating the details, but the bottom line is
