At manufacturing sites, post-WW II chemical technologies were managed as if they represented nothing new. Once the system got rolling, in the early 1950s, an unavoidable consequence was the massive production of toxic products as well as toxic wastes, which led to contamination of every corner of the planet with chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, and genetic damage, known to disrupt animal nervous systems, known to build up in food chains and to stress the stable functioning of ecosystems. Taken together, it was a sure prescription for disaster. Their tactics reflect those of the Minute Men of 1776 who fired from behind trees, then slipped away. Never before in our nation's history has the public been forced to debate this fundamental question.
Massive pollution demands it now.
Chemical technology first fell under a cloud of suspicion in the early 1950s because of doubts about the safety of food additives. Food additives, particularly food colorings, had first been regulated under the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, but regulation was exceedingly lax. The resulting publicity forced government to reexamine the safety of all approved food additives. Three years of Congressional hearings revealed that several perfectly legal food additives caused cancer. Other bits of bad news entered the public consciousness.