In the mid-twentieth century, as the world shifted attention from war to the race for the future, advances in chemical engineering and other technologies allowed humanity to face many perceived obstacles on a scale unprecedented in the history of humanity. With manufacturing capabilities in the United States at full capacity after World War II, manufacturers distributed chemicals designed for all sorts of purposes – from protecting shoes and fabrics from stains to eliminating insects that feed on crops – to a dizzying pace in the public sphere. However, time would show that initial estimates of the safety of these chemicals were not accurate, that large areas of land had been exposed to DDT or similar chemicals in an attempt to control the population of a single insect, and that attempts had been made cheap to dispose of chemicals. waste and by-products. All of these actions combined would have vast and negative impacts on our soil, water, air, and the things that live within them for generations to come. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Silent Spring explores the realm of synthetic pesticides created in the 1930s and 1940s as a way to control insect populations around the world. This has allowed humanity to attempt control of nature itself. While the book does not entirely rule out the discreet and measured use of pesticides, it outlines the catastrophic dangers that unbridled use of these chemicals could pose to nature. However, during the same period, manufacturers have developed other chemical products containing a wide range of applications in the home, work, transportation and entertainment. With so many applications, people around the world were soon surrounded by chemicals. If the environmental impact of these chemicals had been known at the time of the DDT crisis, Sarah Carson might have written about it too. In Silent Spring, Carson details how manufacturers have created various carbon-based chemicals for the purpose of pest control. Chemicals such as DDT, chlordane, dieldrin, aldrin and endrin have replaced inorganic pesticides such as arsenic and have been marketed as a safer and more effective way to control and exterminate pests. Another chain of carbon-based chemicals was also designed around that time: polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS. PFAS were so versatile that their uses could be counted in the thousands, from providing the nonstick element in cookware, to acting as a flame retardant, to preventing stains on fabrics. Armed with this dizzying array of applications, companies began extolling the virtues of these modern chemicals and marketing a seemingly endless collection of products. As Carson outlined his concerns for nature and humanity in Silent Spring, he cited many instances that reinforced the gravity of the issue. In 1961, one such case occurred in the Colorado River, just south of Austin, Texas. It was there, in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, that dead fish began appearing in the water of Town Lake and in the river about five miles south. Within two weeks, dead fish were found as far as two hundred miles south of the city. Before the end of the month, the government closed intracoastal waterway locks in an effort to prevent toxic waters from flowing into Matagorda Bay. After investigators followed the lead, they discovered the sourceit was a chemical plant that produced several pesticides, including DDT and chlordane. When a spill occurred at the plant, operators flushed these chemicals into the sewer system that fed into the Colorado River to save money, instead of disposing of them properly. After the city cleared clogged drains, about a decade's worth of chemical debris flowed into the river, causing a fatal effect on the ecosystem. This story is eerily similar to one involving the PFAS family that continues to impact the world today. In 1958, the former Wolverine Shoe & Tanning Company, now known as Wolverine World Wide, introduced its Hush Puppies brand of shoes, a suede shoe made water resistant by the product Scotchgard, manufactured by 3M. One of the main ingredients in Scotchgard is a member of the PFAS family called perfluorooctanesulfonamide. This chemical breaks down into perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which is linked to certain types of cancer, among other health problems. For many years, Wolverine has dumped liquid waste from its Rockford, Michigan tannery into gravel pits and other landfills in Kent County towns and cities. Despite internal studies commissioned by 3M in 1978 revealing that PFAS compounds were toxic to laboratory animals, 3M continued production and Wolverine continued to use it on their shoes. For the next 30 years, in addition to dumping this chemical waste, Wolverine also stored Scotchgard outdoors. While these methods resulted in cost savings for the company, the effect on the immediate surroundings was dramatic. In the 1980s, when the DNR began testing local groundwater around the tannery and landfills, they found enormous levels of PFAS. Despite this discovery, Wolverine did little to change its practices, and 3M continued to use the same PFAS compound that the DNR found so problematic. It wasn't until twenty years later, after considerable pressure from the EPA, that 3M finally changed the formula for Scotchgard to replace the PFAS compounds that had long half-lives with ones that would break down more easily. However, as of 2019, high levels of toxic PFAS were still found in local groundwater, rivers and the fish swimming in them. The local government continues to instruct nearby residents to avoid tap water due to high levels of contamination. Wolverine continues to face multiple lawsuits over environmental damage and, in 2018, took legal action against 3M, its longtime chemical supplier. Governments and manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of acceptable levels of chemical exposure. In the 1950s, after the widespread use of DDT despite its known limited effectiveness, the Canadian government continued attempts to control the worm population in the forests of New Brunswick and Quebec with it. However, they reduced the standard concentration from ½ pound per acre to ¼ pound per acre to mitigate collateral damage. At the same time, the United States still thought it was safe to use one pound per acre. Despite continued insistence by these chemical manufacturers and several government agencies that these compounds could be safe if kept within the acceptable tolerance range, environmental evidence has proven otherwise. Even today, PFAS in Teflon and food packaging have a recommended but not applicable acceptable tolerance range. As new research comes in, the accepted levels may change. As fat-soluble carbon-based compounds, the pesticides described in Silent Spring, such as DDT, have been shown to accumulate.