#i'm vaguely aware of similarly nefarious origins of plastic

[brianbrianbrain]

Following IDs are of pictures from the book begin italics The Chemical Age end italics.

ID. Sibert was concerned that the expertise assembled by the Chemical Warfare Service would not be cultivated. "I feel that... the genius and patriotism displayed by the chemists and chemical engineers of the country were not surpassed in any branch of war work and that to fail to utilize in peace times this talen would be a crime."[297]

Experts at the Chemical Warfare Service reasoned that chemical weapons, which were so effective at debilitating and killing people, would perhaps be even better at killing insects.[303] In the postwar period, chemists continued to test war gases against insect pests. Part of the motivation for this was political. The Chemical Warfare Service was slated for dissolution once hostilities ceased, as specified in President Wilson's order that created it.[315] Having survived this existential threat, the Chemical Warfare Service faced budget cuts from Congress as the need for chemical weapons seemed to be a thing of the past.[303]

To maintain its relevancy, the Chemical Warfare Service gave itself a makeover and promoted the civilian benefits of its poison gases, especially their potential uses as insecticides. It began to call itself the Chemical Peace Service, conducting "peaceful warfare."[303] End ID.

ID. cross, buzzard, rats, or grasshopper, is by clouds of gas".[303] Chemical warfare metamorphosed into pest control, with the preservation of humanity, rather than its destruction, as the goal. At the same time, pest control research justified the continued existence of the Chemical Warfare Service and its improvement of poison gases.

These efforts on the part of the Chemical Warfare Service coincided nicely with the needs of civilian entomologists, who at the time worked in a low-status field considered inconsequential by society, but who played an outsized role in pest control for the war effort. Following the war, entomologists "were surprised and chagrined to find that even in certain high official circles the old idea of the entomologist still held–that he was a man whose life was devoted to the differentiation of species by the examination of the number of spines on the legs and the number of spots on the wings."[322]

By framing their work as a war against insects with human survival at stake, entomologists elevated their prestige while they eagerly embraced the tools of war: airplanes, poison gases, and dispersal weapons.[303] The Chemical Warfare Service provided them with these tools and with the fruits of its research, hence the army and entomologists each promoted the public image of each other. The strategy succeeded with the passage of the National Defense Act in 1920, which solidified the position of the Chemical Warfare Service within the US Army.

Human progress depended, according to a typical popular article published in 1915, on mankind defeating "germ-conveying agents... whose only purpose in life seems to be to play the part of the anarchist and to reduce the living world to nullity and death.–There is a war to be waged, not between man and man, but between man on the one side and the arthropod on the other, a war to be fought to the finish to decide which of the two forms of life, this highly developed vertebrate or these malignly evolved invertebrates, is to govern our planet. Is the lord of this earth some day to be a monstrous ant or bug, a wasp or a midge, a scale insect or a tick? Or is it to be this god-like mammal that walks erect and can see the stars, can weight the suns and planets, that is already in touch with

161. End ID.

ID. Monsanto Corporation responded with a widely distributed parody entitled "The Desolate Year," which described a pesticide-free world riddled with disease and hunger.[495] "The bugs were everywhere. Unseen. Unheard. Unbelievably universal... Beneath the ground, beneath the waters, on and in limbs and twigs and stalks, under rocks, inside trees and animals and other insects–and, yes, inside man." Due to the lack of pesticides, "the garrote of Nature rampant began to tighten." The result was that "genus by genus, species by species, sub-species by innumerable sub-species, the insects emerged. Creeping and flying and crawling into the open, beginning in the southern tier of states and progressing northward." People, "infected by the first onslaught of the host mosquitoes, suffered the fiendish torture of chills and fever and the hellish pain of the world's greatest scourge." Malaria was by no means the only agent of man's suffering. "Then the really notorious villain, Ireland's awful late blight, took over, and the firm brown 'spuds' were gone, turned into black slime." A repeat of the Irish Potato Famine due to a lack of pesticides led to starving people once again reduced to eating insects. Termites felled buildings and devoured libraries. "Yellow fever hung like a spectre" over the southern United States. "Rats and mice multiplied prodigiously," a disaster that would lead to outbreaks of typhus and bubonic plague. End ID.

ID. A host of chemical companies, including Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Shell Chemical, Goodrich-Gulf, Allied Chemical, and W. R. Grace, collaborated through trade organizations in their criticisms of the book and its author, and some, such as Velsicol and American Cyanamid, had their own representatives mount attack.[466] begin italics Silent Spring end italics threatened to undermine the prestige of these companies, carefully cultivated through advertising campaigns such as DuPont's "Better Living through Chemistry." Industry also worried that the book would lead to unwanted regulations. begin italics Chemical Engineering and News end italics quoted the director of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture: "In any large scale pest control program in this area, we are immediately confronted with the objection of a vociferous, misinformed group of nature-balancing, organic-gardening, bird-loving, unreasonable citizenry."[471] Another magazine concluded, "Her book is more poisonous that the pesticides she condemns."[471] The irony of the industry campaign was revealed by one critic of Carson, who wrote, "They scold emotion emotionally."[496] End ID.

ID. Applied entomologists were thus directly attached as ignorant and immoral. They and their allies responded in kind. One prominent entomologist wrote that "begin italics Silent Spring end italics poses leading questions, on which neither the author nor the average reader is qualified to make decisions. I regard it as science fiction, to be read in the same way that the TV show begin italics Twilight Zone end italics is to be watched."[467] An industrial trade journal commented, "For the insecticide industry, this book could turn out to be a serious and costly body blow–even though it did land below the belt."[467]

A prominent scientists, who led the Food Protection Committee of the National Academy of Sciences–National Research Council, predicted that begin italics Silent Spring end italics would appeal to "the organic gardeners, the antifluoride leaguers, the worshipers of 'natural foods,' those who cling to the philosophy of a vital principle, and pseudo-scientists and faddists."[497] He advised that, "in view of her scientific qualification in contrast to those of our distinguished scientific leaders and statesmen, this book should be ignored... It is doubtful that many readers can bear to wade through its high-pitched sequences of anxieties."[497] He warned that the attitude expressed in the book "means the end of all human progress, reversion to a passive social state devoid of technology, scientific medicine, agriculture, sanitation, or education. It means disease, epidemics, starvation, misery, and suffering incomparable and intolerable to modern man."[497] End ID.

ID. begin bold Table 17.8 end bold

Chemical Names and Characteristics of 12 Insecticides Commonly Used for the Control of Turfgrass Insect Pests

The following table has headings in italics. They are Name of insecticide, with one column for Common and another for Chemical, as well as Chemical grouping*

*C–carbamates. CH–chlorinated hydrocarbons. OP–organophosphates. M–a miticide only.

Entries:

Carbaryl; 1-naphthyl N-methylcarbamate; C

Carbonphenothion; S-(p-chlorophenylthiomethyl) O,O-diethyl phosphorodithioate; OP

Chlordane; 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,8-octachloro-2,3,3a,4,7,7a-hexhydro-4,7-methanoindene; CH

Diazinon; O,O-diethyl O-(2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-pyrimidinyl) phosphorodithioate; OP

Dicofol; 1,1-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2, 2,2-trichloroethanol; M

Dursban®; O,O-diethyl O-(3,5,6,-trichloro-2-pyridyl) phosphorothioate; OP

Ethion; O,O,O',O'-tetraethyl S.S'-methylene bisphosphorodithioate; OP

Lead arsenate; Lead arsenate; –

Malathion; O,O-dimethyl dithiophosphate of diethyl mercaptosuccinate; OP

Methoxychlor; 2,2,-bis (p-methanoxyphenyl)-1,1,1-trichlorothane; CH

Propoxur; o-isopropoxyphenyl methylcarbamate; C

Trichlorofon; Dimethyl (2,2,2-trichloro-1-hydroxyethyl) phosphonate; OP. End ID.

ID. Earthworms can be objectionable on certain turfgrass areas such as greens because they leave small mounds or casting that disrupt the uniformity, appearance, and playability of the surface (Fig. 17-16). As much as 0.8 lb per sq ft of castings can be brought to the soil surface in 1 year. The castings contain a mixture of soil and decomposed organic material, are particularly high in nutrients, and have improved stability in water. The castings must be removed from the surface of the green prior to moving operations or active play. The use of insecticides may be necessary where castings are consistently formed due to earthworm activity on greens. Insecticides that are effective include chlordane and lead arsenate.

begin bold Figure 17.16 end bold. Earthworm castings deposited on the surface of a creeping bentgrass green. The photo is black and white and is of several bumps on turf seen from above. End ID.

ID. and dissipation by sunlight, precipitation, and irrigation.

begin bold Table 17-5 end bold

Chemical Names of 24 Commonly Used Turfgrass Fungicides

The following table has headings in italics. They are Name of fungicide, with one column for Common and another for Chemical, as well as Nonsystemic, N or systemic, S

Entries:

Anilazine; 2, 4-dichloro-6-o-chloro-anilino-s-triazine; N

Benomyl; Methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole-carbamate; S

Cadmium compounds; Cadmium carbonate, Cadmium chloride, Cadmium sebacate, Cadmium succinate; N

Captan; N-(trichloromethylmercapto)-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboximide; N

Chloroneb; 1,4-dichloro-2,5,-dimethyoxybenzene; N (S)

Cycloheximide; 3-(2-(3,5-dimethyl-2-oxo-cyclohexyl)-2-hydroxyethyl)-glutarimide; N (S)

Daconil 2787®; 2, 4, 5, 6-tetrachloroisophthalonitrile; N

Dexon; p-dimethylaminobenzene diazo sodium sulfonate; N

Difolatan®; cis-N-[(1,1,2,2,-tetrachloroethyl)thio]-4-cyclohexene-1,2,-dicarboximide; N

Dinocap; Dinitro(1-methyl heptyl) phenyl crotonate; N

Folpet; N-(trichloromethylthio) phthalimide; N

Mancozeb; Coordination product of zinc ion and maneb; N

Maneb; Manganous ethylenebisdithiocarbamate; N

Mercury, inorganic; Mercurous chloride + mercuric chloride; N

Mercury, organic; Cyano (methylmercuril) guanidine; N (S)

PCNB; Pentachloronitrobenzene; N

PMA; (Acetato) phenylmercury; N

Sulfur; Sulfur; N

Terrazole®; 5-ethoxy-3-trichloromethyl-1,2,4-thiadiazole; S

Thiabendazole; 2-(4'-thiazolyl)-benzimidazole; S

Thiophanate; 1,2-bis (3-ethoxy-carbonyl-2-thioureido) benzene; S

Thiophanate-methyl; 1,2-bis (3-methoxycarbonyl-2-thioureido) benzene; S

Thiram; Tetramethylthiuram disulfide; N

Zineb; Zinc ethylenebisdithio-carbamate

End ID.

Following IDs are of pictures from a different book.

ID. color to the grass. Small amounts of nitrogen fertilizer (urea) and iron are included to stimulate growth.

There are several other broad-spectrum products. Tersan OM, for example, contains 45 per cent thiram and 10 per cent chlorophenol mercury. Thimer contains 75 percent thiran and 3 per cent phenyl mercury acetate. Still another Cad-trete, is a combination of 75 per cent thiram and 8 per cent cadmium. All three appear to be "happy marriages" of two good fungicides and should prevent and control most lawn diseases. Thiuram-MM is a combination of thiram and both forms of inorganic mercury, mercurous and mercuric chlorides.

Three other all-purpose fungicides, Acti-dione RZ, Acti-dione Thiram and Seed Treater X, have already been discussed. Still another if Formula Z, advertised as a "5 in 1" product.

section heading in bold: Soil Sterilants

Soil sterilants may be used to more or less sterilize the soil prior to planting or to sterilize top-dressing before using it on new seed-

178. End ID.

ID. Text is in two columns, with first headed in bold as Type of Pest and second headed in bold as Recommended, Control/1,000 sq. ft.

The pest and recommended treatment are bolded at the beginning of each entry.

7. Billbug: Small, white, legless grub. Adults are black, 3/8" have snout or long bill. Feeds on roots of grass near soil surface and on leaves. Several species attack Bermudagrasses and Zoysias. / Spray: 8 ozs. Chlordane 75%.

8. Eriophyid Mite: Not yet definitely identified, but found attacking Bermudagrass in Arizona in 1959. Mites hide under the leaf sheaths causing considerable damage. Lawn appears tufted or rosetted in areas. / Dust: 1/2# sulfur dust.

9. Wasps and Bees: Damage lawns by digging nests or burrows in the soil and making mounds at entrance to nests. / Dust: 2 1/2# 5% DDT, or Granle: 1# 10% DDT, or Spray: 4 tablesps. 75% Chlordane

10. Crawfish (Crayfish): Objectionable because of the ugly burrows and mud chimneys it builds in wet soil. / Spray: 5 ozs. 50% DDT wettable powder in 3 gals. water (Apply 1 oz. per hole)

11. Mole: Small, furry animal, seldom troublesome to turf unless attracted by grubs and other soil insects. Their tell-tale ridges and mounds disfigure lawns and golf courses. Key to elimination is getting rid of food supply. See control for grubs. / Moles may be eliminated by means of harpoon-like or choker traps. Use according to manufacturer's instructions.

12. Pillbugs, Snails, Slugs: Not true insects, related to crustaceans. Usually found on damp ground under boards and stones. Pillbugs roll up into a tiny ball when distrubed; slugs are shell-less moving about lawn leaving mucous on plants and sidewalks. Snails are blackish and slimy wish shells and feed on tender grass plants. / Dust: 2 1/2# 6% Chlordane dust, or Spray: 2 ozs. 50% DDT wettable powder in 3 gals. water, or Bait: (May be purchased commercially)

13. Fleas, Chiggers (Red Bugs), Ticks: Tiny insects that do not harm the grass but inflict damage by iting people and transmit disease, such as tularemia and tick fever. Invade from wooded areas or spread to lawns from dogs, cats or rodens. / Dust: 3# 1.5 Diedlrin, or 1/2 or 2# Lindane 1%, or Spray: 1/2 cupful 15-18% Dieldrin, or 6 tablesps. 25% Diazinon (5% malathion dust is an excellent control for fleas).

End ID.

ID. Picture from book.

164 | begin italics Responses of Environment end italics

century (Boswell, 1952). accumulations of residues reached astounding levels in some crop soils. Levels were particularly high in soils beneath orchard trees and in soils dedicated to cotton culture. Almost all residues were confined to the top few inches, and established plants whose roots penetrated well below the cultivated layer showed little or no effects of these excessive amounts. However, vegetable crops fared poorly in soils heavily contaminated with arsenic, as did cover crops in orchards. Efforts to replace old orchard trees with young usually failed. Attempts to re-use orchard lands to produce cereal, forage, or vegetable crops proved economically disastrous over wide areas. The problem pyramided with increasing resistance of insects to arsenicals, and, particularly in apple orchards, this resulted in heavier, more frequent arsenic applications. The pattern was particularly marked in the Pacific Northwest, where some areas had accumulated amounts up to 1400 pounds of arsenic trioxide per acre. Legume crops became progressively poorer; alfalfa and beans often died on high-arsenic tracts although they thrived on immediately adjacent sites that had no spray residues. Several years of natural leaching and chemical decomposition were required before such common crops such as rye, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and peas would grow acceptably well. The steadily increasing rates of application resulted in amounts on marketed fruit that finally became inacceptable. Great Britain would not buy American apples. The hazard in arsenic accumulations ran the full gamut from soil to marketed product, and led, deplorably slowly, to major changes in the production, processing, and marketing of fruits and vegetables. Economic losses were staggering to growers farming land on which accumulations were excessive. The effects were widespread and occured over many crop types, and only after many years have the residual effects been ameliorated.

Arsenical insecticides. End ID.

ID. Illustration of the Disney Evil Queen witch dipping the red apple into the cauldron boiling over with green poison. End ID.

Last 2 IDs are pictures from the last unnamed book.

ID. Grain baits probably produce the great unintended loss of this kind. Graminivorous birds have been found dead on many occasions in areas undergoing control. In 1960, for example, 1080-treated grain bait distributed by air for forest rodents killed several species of birds, with heaviest mortality of Steller jays (E. G. Hunt, personal communication). in this instance no real searchers were made for bodies; they were found at camp grounds. Thousands of geese were killed in the Tule Lake area of northern California and Oregon by carelessly distributed grains directed at meadow mice (Mohr, 1959). Repeated losses occur among pheasants and quail under similar circumstances.

Abnormally heavy broadcasts of nonselective insecticides, such as the chlorinated hydrocarbons dieldrin, DDT, endrin, and heptachlor, are capable of killing mammals. In insect control programs these chemicals will normally be applied at rates of 0.25 to 1.5 pounds of toxicant per acre. Within this range no lasting direct effects on mammals have been noted. Where, however, the special habits of a pest insect require high insecticide doses and long residual action, mammal mortality has been common. In a campaign in Illinois against Japanese beetle, dieldrin was used as 3 pounds per acre. Ground squirrels, muskrats, rabbits, and other vertebrates were killed (Scott begin italics et al. end italics, 1959), and general declines in population numbers followed because of continuing direct loss. The program against the imported fire ant in the southern states was based initially on 2 pounds of dieldrin or heptachlor per acre (dose since lowered). Exact figures on loss are not available, but populations of some species declined markedly (e.g., racoons, rabbits). Mammal mortality was revealed in all investigations, and many specimens examined contained chemical residues in tissues. Surviving raccoons in one area studies still had residues in their tissues a year after treatment (DeWitt and George, 1960). DDT, below 4 to 5 pounds per acre, does not affect mammals directly, but indirect effects have been noted at even normal insect control levels. End ID.

ID. Direct exposure to toxic levels of chemicals is chiefly accidental. Only in rare instances is exposure intentional. A number of suicides (and a few homicides) have chosen agricultural chemicals to accomplish their ends. Some of these chemicals are eminently suitable. Parathion, for example, has been used many times for suicide in Germany. The greater number of illnesses or deaths are not intended, and arise chiefly from carelessness or ignorance.

In households, adults may unknowingly ingest contaminated food or children gain access to stored pesticides or to the empty containers in which they came. Parathion and thallium, as examples, have both caused death from their presence in flour. An entire family became ill after consuming spinach brought in a jute bag formerly containing parathion; the spinach itself had been free of insecticides. Accidental death of children has been reported many times. Particularly responsible are rodenticides and organic phosphate insecticides stored in easily opened or breakable containers. One child, for example, died after drinking from a Coca-Cola bottle in which parathion had been stored. A girl died after breaking and spilling part of the contents of a bottle of TEPP on herself. Another died after playing in a large empty container that had held parathion dust. Gross carelessness and ignorance are as much the causes as the pesticides themselves. Exposure of this character continues to occur, and can perhaps always be expected. In the United States about 150 deaths a year are attirbuted to pesticides. In one year (1956) almost half were due to the "older" pesticides, arsenic and phosphorus. In that year only 35 of the total number were linked with the newer synthetic compounds. The Public Health Service agencies and poison information centers in the United States. End ID.

In the library I have been reading lots of books about pesticides and related topics. The library's physical print collection skews toward older books, so there are lots of books over 50 years old.

I will share the findings in subsequent reblogs, but for now I'll say this: Filmmakers and novelists working in the most gory, nauseating crevices of the horror genre could never dream something more twisted, disgusting and absolutely blood-curdling as a book about Turfgrass Lawns from the 1960's.