Does Carson believe that natural or human-caused cancers are more prevalent in modern society?
What is the first specific carcinogen she discusses in this chapter? What evidence does she present for an
increase in cancer rates? Is it convincing? How much evidence does Carson present for the
carcinogenicity of pesticides in humans and animals? What happened with the new synthetic pesticide
used against mites and ticks? What happened during the "cranberry scare" of 1959? Why does Carson
believe that we are not able to yet gage the "full effect of the new" pesticides? How is leukemia different
from most cancers? How has the leukemia rate changed over the decade of the 1950s? What examples of
pesticide-induced blood disorders does Carson present? Notice (again) Carson's comparison of the health
effects of radiation (including the Lucky Dragon episode) and chemicals.