On Oct 19, 3:20 pm, "o=nob" wrote:
Yet more evidence that leftie whackos just can't
be trusted to be truthful.

October 5 2009

QUOTE: As proof of DDT's threat to human health
Carson relies not on scientific studies but rather
on anecdotal evidence,

QUOTE: Humans have forever been "subjected to
contact with dangerous chemicals": literally
thousands of dangerous chemicals are ubiquitous in
nature



Anyone interested in an honest account of the matters attending Silent
Spring and the issue of DDT, rather than the hysterical slander more
generally can visit this link:

http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2009...hel_carson.php

This utterly demolishes J F Beck's credibility, exposing him as a
mischievous slanderer.

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As part of its ongoing war on science, Quadrant Online as published a
piece by J.F. Beck accusing Rachel Carson of constructing an elaborate
tissue of exaggerations and lies.

In his piece Beck is only able to come up with two alleged lies by
Carson. First, Beck claims that Carson said that DDT was the product
of World War II weapons research:

Carson's suggestion notwithstanding, DDT was not a product of World
War II weapons research, having been first synthesised in 1874.

But Beck is lying. Here is what Carson actually wrote about the
development of DDT:

DDT (short for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) was first
synthesized by a German Chemist in 1874, but its properties as an
insecticide were not discovered until 1939. Almost immediately DDT was
hailed as a means of stamping out insect-borne disease and winning the
farmers' war against crop destroyers overnight. The discoverer, Paul
Muller of Switzerland, won the Nobel Prize.

And Beck is well aware of what Carson actually wrote.

Second, Beck claims that Carson said that DDT causes leukemia in a
matter of months:

Contrary to Carson's suggestion, no amount of DDT can cause leukemia
or any other form of cancer to develop in a matter of months, if ever,
and the chemical is not acutely toxic: no one is known to have died of
DDT poisoning.

But Beck is lying. After listing a couple of case histories where
pesticide use was followed by leukemia, Carson wrote:

As this physician emphasizes, pure exposure to a single chemical is
the exception, rather than the rule. The commercial product usually
contains combinations of several chemicals, suspended in a petroleum
distillate plus some dispersing agent. The aromatic cyclic and
unsaturated hydrocarbons of the vehicle may themselves be a major
factor in the damage done the blood-forming organs.

And later:

Benzene, a frequent constituent of insecticidal solvents, lodges in
the marrow and remains deposited there for periods known to be as long
as 20 months. Benzene itself has been recognized in medical literature
for many years as a cause of leukemia.

The EPA states "benzene is a known human carcinogen by all routes of
exposure", so it would seem that Carson wasn't lying, but rather on
the right track. (See also this on the evidence Carson used.)

Beck also claims that DDT "is not acutely toxic". But Cornell's
Pesticide Management Education Program reports on the acute toxicity
of DDT:

Acute effects likely in humans due to low to moderate exposure may
include nausea, diarrhea, increased liver enzyme activity, irritation
(of the eyes, nose or throat), disturbed gait, malaise and
excitability; at higher doses, tremors and convulsions are possible
(3, 6). While adults appear to tolerate moderate to high ingested
doses of up to 280 mg/kg, a case of fatal poisoning was seen in a
child who ingested one ounce of a 5% DDT:kerosene solution (3).

Beck also denies any chronic toxicity for DDT:

In any event, DDT and other commonly encountered synthetic pesticides
are no more dangerous to the average human's health than are the
natural chemicals in our food

Recent scientific literature disagrees:

The recent literature shows a growing body of evidence that exposure
to DDT and its breakdown product DDE may be associated with adverse
health outcomes such as breast cancer, diabetes, decreased semen
quality, spontaneous abortion, and impaired neurodevelopment in
children.

Beck finishes with this:

The viciousness? It's the left's traditional tool for silencing
opposition. If that doesn't work there's always violence.

Apparently Beck is afraid of vicious gangs of Carson supporters
beating him into silence.

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Fran