Since the publication of Rachel Carson s landmark 1962 book Silent Spring, the impacts of pesticides on the environment have been well-known.
Pesticides are toxic to living organisms.
Some can accumulate in water systems, pollute the air, and in some cases have other dramatic environmental effects. Scientists are discovering new threats to the environment that are equally disturbing. Pesticides take a heavy toll on fish populations and other aquatic species. Fish can be poisoned by the presence of even a few parts per billion of pesticide active ingredient in the aquatic environment. In 1995, toxic concentrations of endosulfan and methyl parathion along a 16 mile stretch of Tennessee River tributary in Alabama resulted in fish kills numbering over 240,000 within a few weeks.