DDT
The pesticide that ignited Rachel Carson to write Silent Spring still haunts the biosphere.
DDT is distributed across the biosphere. It is primarily found in barrels of organic waste.
Xanthis, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring to many well-earned accolades and much derision. While the deriders were primarily from the pesticide industry, Ms. Carson ignited the environmental movement that still holds public sway in many parts of the world. One of the culprit pesticides that Ms. Carson cited was DDT.
Surprisingly, DDT is still found in the biosphere. Barrels containing DDT can be found in some parts of the US. One site, the San Pedro Basin (on the ocean floor) which is situated between Catalina Island and the Southern California coast, is home to barrels of DDT waste. and it seems to be seeping into the foodchain according to research conducted by Scripps Research Institute, San Diego State, and the University of California, San Diego. Quoting the researchers,
“This discovery is critical and suggests that DDT+ from deep ocean sediment enters the water column and subsequently the marine food web. DDT pollution in SCB should be recognized as an ongoing environmental concern requiring further research” (Stack).
Carson wrote Silent Spring because of what she noted as an encroachment of chemicals into the biosphere. In the cited research, the barrels of waste DDT are one instance of many across the USA. However, California is rare among many US states because of its environmental transparency.
According to documents from the US-EPA, Montrose chemical company contracted a third party to dump DDT-laden waste directly into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. This site is desginated as an EPA Superfund Site. The dumping started in 1948 and concluded in the early 1960s. According to a document from the US-EPA,
“This acid waste contained some DDT. California Salvage would then drive the trucks to the harbor and unload the waste onto a barge. The barges would be towed to an “approved” location offshore and dispose of the acid waste directly into the ocean waters (though one deponent heard rumors that California Salvage would sometimes dump the waste closer to shore)” (US-EPA).
US-EPA
Natural Resources Defense Council—Rachel Carson
Margaret E. Stack, William H. Richardot, Raymmah Garcia, Tran Nguyen, C. Anela Choy, Paul R. Jensen, Johanna Gutleben, Nathan G. Dodder, Lihini I. Aluwihare, and Eunha Hoh. “Identification of DDT+ in Deep Ocean Sediment and Biota in the Southern California Bight“
Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2024 11 (5), 479-484