"Throughout the last decade, proponents and opponents of DDT have faced one another in a growing series of confrontations. Proponents argue that DDT has a good human health record and that alternatives to DDT are more hazardous to the user and more costly. Opponents to DDT, admitting that there may be little evidence of direct harm to man, emphasize other hazards connected with its use. They argue that DDT is a persistent, toxic chemical which easily collects in the food chain posing a proven hazard to non-target organisms such as fish and wildlife and otherwise upsetting the natural ecological balance.”
~ DDT, A Review of Scientific and Economic Aspects of the Decision To Ban Its Use as a Pesticide, 1975
Silent Spring sparked debate between the public, chemical industry, federal government, and Carson.
Scientists from the chemical/agricultural industries argued that pesticides were vital for efficient crop production because of increasing population and decreasing land. They also emphasized the role of pesticides in disease control.
Carson countered that, although the benefits of pesticides were well-known, the public knew little about the hazards of pesticides.
Rachel Carson testifying at Congressional hearings, 1963, Rachel Carson Council
Reviews of Silent Spring were mixed. Dr. Darby, a biochemist, published a critical review in Chemical & Engineering News that led to multiple letters to the editor.
Letters to the Editor, 1962, Chemical & Engineering News
When the public read the book, they sent letters to Congress, newspapers, and Carson. Carson had a specialty for making complicated ideas more understandable for laypeople. The book helped readers grasp the dangers of pesticides, and inspired them to take action.
"I was amused recently to read a bit of wishful thinking in one of the trade magazines. Industry 'can take heart,' it said, 'from the fact that the main impact of the book will occur in the late fall and winter – seasons when consumers are not normally active buyers of insecticides [ … ] it is fairly safe to hope that by March or April Silent Spring no longer will be an interesting conversational subject.' If the tone of my mail from readers is any guide, and if the movements that have already been launched gain the expected momentum, this is one prediction that will not come true."
~ Rachel Carson, Speech to Garden Club of America, 1963
"The response to Rachel Carson’s book shows clearly that one man’s pesticide is another man’s poison. Hundreds of letters- 99 percent of them favorable- poured into The New Yorker. Newspapers throughout the country published editorial comment. Two Senators and three Representatives read selections into the Congressional Record. Houghton Mifflin ordered 100,000 copies of the book printed."
~ Lorus and Margery Milne, The New York Times Book Review, 1962
Due to public pressure, the federal government investigated pesticide safety. On June 4, 1963, Carson testified in Congressional hearings. President John F. Kennedy called for the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) to research information in Silent Spring and make recommendations on future pesticide usage.
"In attempting to assess the role of pesticides, people too often assume that these chemicals are being introduced into a simple, easily controlled environment, as in a laboratory experiment. This, of course, far from true."
~ Rachel Carson, Statement to Congress, 1963
Congressional record of Carson's testimony, 1963, Give Earth a Chance: Environmental Activism in Michigan