What Would Rachel Say?

Anvil, the product being sprayed for mosquito control, is a product that contains sumithrin and piperonyl butoxide as active ingredients. Sumithrin is a man-made pyrethroid.  Piperonyl butoxidedoes not directly kill insects on its own, but acts to increase the ability of sumithrin to kill insects. These active ingredients are dissolved in a petroleum solvent. Petroleum solvents are similar to paint thinner or kerosene. Petroleum solvents make up most of the Anvil used for mosquito control. 

What would Rachel Say?
"In being man-made by ingenious laboratory manipulation of the molecules, substituting atoms, altering their arrangement - they differ sharply from the simpler insecticides of prewar days.  These were derived from naturally occurring minerals and plant products -compounds of arsenic, copper, lead, manganese, zinc, and other minerals, pyrethrum from the dried flowers of chrysanthemums, nicotine sulphate from some of the relatives of tobacco, and rotenone from leguminous plants of the East Indies. ... What sets the new synthetic insecticides apart is their enormous biological potency.  They have immense power not merely to poison but to enter into the most vital processes of the body and change them in sinister and often deadly ways.   Thus, as we shall see, they destroy the very enzymes whose function is to protect the body from harm, they block the oxidation processes from which the body receives its energy, they prevent the normal functioning of various organs, and they may initiate in certain cells the slow and irreversible change that leads to malignancy." Silent Spring (1962, edit. 2002), Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964), Chapter 3: Elixirs of Death, Page 16.

Crusader's environmental mark honored, May 27, 2007 b y DINAH VOYLES PULVER , Environment Writer, News-Journal Online. Rachel Carson, the mother of the modern environmental movement, would have been 100 today.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Enviro/envEAST03ENV052707.htm

GLOBE EDITORIAL May 27, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/05/27/remembering_rachel_carson/

STUDIOUS AND solitary, the marine biologist Rachel Carson didn't compare well to Carrie Nation, the hatchet-wielding temperance firebrand of the 19th century. But in the early 1960s, American popular culture had a dearth of recognizable models for women who challenged powerful industries. Carson, who crusaded against the use of chemical pesticides in her seminal book "Silent Spring," was dubbed -- and not always favorably -- "the Carrie Nation of ecology." ...

By Michele Sprengnether, Cambridge Chronicle,  May 22, 2007

http://www.townonline.com/cambridge/opinions/x269035903

When I was a child in the late '60s, we could play outside after dinner until dark. Summer had arrived when our evening was capped off by the "bug man. "He'd drive around in a pickup truck with a mister out the back, spraying a fog of pesticide. We would chase him and try to run inside the sweet-smelling cloud. Today it's hard to imagine a pesticide mister driving down our street...

While Target shareholders attended the company's annual meeting in Cleveland today, CHEJ, environmental groups and concerned customers around the country urged Target to phase out PVC. Protests, press conferences and letters were delivered to store managers at over 200 stores across the country. At the shareholders meeting, Target's CEO was delivered a petition with over 10,000 signatures demanding that the company phase out products made with or packaged in PVC. In addition, we ran an ad in USA Today urging Target to phase out this unnecessary and dangerous plastic.

Take Action - Tell Target to Quit Ducking the Truth About the Dangers of PVC  

-  Deliver a letter to your Target store manager.

- Tell 5 friends about the campaign and encourage them to sign our petition to Target.

Today we released a brand new report: "Way Off Target: A Critical Assessment of Target's PVC Products & Packaging" which details how Target is falling behind other major retailers who are already committed to replacing PVC with safe alternatives. New testing shows that Target sells some children's PVC products such as boots and shoes that contain lead. Momentum is building - just this month Wal-Mart and Apple announced plans to phase out PVC in baby bibs, children's products and computers.

Target isn't the only company under increasing pressure to switch to safer and healthier products. Hasbro also held their annual shareholder meeting today, where shareholders voted on a resolution that highlights concerns about Hasbro toys manufactured from and packaged in PVC. Target is Hasbro's second largest customer, right after Wal-Mart who earlier this month announced their support for the elimination of PVC in children's products. In July, Bed, Bath, and Beyond will hold their shareholder meeting where a PVC resolution is also up for vote.

Together we can.  Sincerely, Lois Gibbs, Executive Director
Center for Health, Environment and Justice

BE SAFE PVC Campaign.
For more information visit the BE SAFE PVC campaign's website: www.besafenet.com/pvc   

Cambridge (MA) City Council Adopted: MAY 21, 2007

WHEREAS:     May 27, 2007 is the 100th birthday of the renowned biologist and nature writer Rachel Carson; and

WHEREAS:     In her numerous writings, including Silent Spring, Rachel Carson stressed the web of life and connected our attitudes to nature, and often our actions, to harmful practices toward the environment;

WHEREAS:     In the midst of adversity and strong opposition from industry and corporate interests Rachel Carson called attention to our responsibility towards the environment, and as a biologist she insisted on the importance of educating the public about the dangers of contamination by toxic substances; and

 WHEREAS:     Rachel Carson's work has influenced public policy about the environment all over the world and since her publications, research has increasingly shown the links of contamination of water, air, and soil to disease and illness; and

WHEREAS:     The City of Cambridge has committed itself to energy conservation, realizing that climate change and global warming constitute a serious threat to the wellbeing and the future of our planet, and in so doing has taken seriously Rachel Carson's warnings about our responsibilities; now therefore be it

RESOLVED:   That the City Council declare May 27 as annual Rachel Carson Day in Cambridge.

Mayor David Cohen's Announces May 27, 2007 is Rachel Carson Day in Newton, MA
Click here for remarks:  Rachel Carson Day in Newton, MA
Newton Mayor David B. Cohen 
K athleen Attfield, Silent Spring Institute
Ellie Goldberg, The Green Decade Coalition/Newton