Use of pesticides

Description:

Report of a special subcommittee of President Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC); they were tasked by Kennedy to report on the use of pesticides, especially by the federal government, after the publication of Rachel Carson's book, *Silent Spring,* in 1962. The report was issued on May 15, 1963; press copies sent out the evening before announced that the President had already ordered all federal agencies involved to implement the recommendations of the subcommittee. Essentially the report concludes that pesticides were being applied with too little knowledge of their effects on wildlife and ecosystems, and with almost no knowledge of their effects on humans. DDT and some of its related chemical compounds were especially noted to have caused serious harms; care in their use and research to determine their safety was highly recommended. Contrary to the public relations campaign carried out by DDT manufacturers and supporters, the PSAC said in effect that Carson's book was scientifically accurate, and that there was greater cause for alarm than Carson let on. This was considered a vindication of Carson at the time. This report has been out of print and largely unavailable since the 1970s. The special Panel on the Use of Pesticides included H. Stanley Bennett, University of Chicago; Kenneth Clark, University of Colorado; Paul M. Doty, Harvard University; William H. Drury, Massachusetts Audubon Society; David R. Goddard, University of Pennsylvania; James G. Horsfall, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; William D. McElroy, Johns Hopkins University; James D. Watson, Harvard University; Colin M. MacLeod, School of Medicine, New York University.

subjects: Pesticides,  Toxicology,  DDT,  Rachel Carson,  PSAC,  President's Science Advisory Council,  Biological Adaptation,  Toxicity

People: President Kennedy

Times: May 15,  1963