Chemical Confusion

It's often asserted that the severe restrictions on DDT and other pesticides were justified in rich countries like America simply to protect wildlife. But even that is debatable (see www.tierneylab.com), and in any case, the chemophobia inspired by Ms. Carson's book has been harmful in various ways. The obsession with eliminating minute risks from synthetic chemicals has wasted vast sums of money.

Agricultural workers exposed to high levels of pesticides have a raised risk of brain tumours, research suggests.