How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT, Elena Conis

Le résumé fourni par la source

As one of the principal chemicals discussed in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) received enormous scientific and public scrutiny at the outset of the modern environmental movement. Numerous scholars have likewise trained their eyes on DDT’s history for insights into the emergence of environmental science, regulation, and activism. But none have attempted to offer as comprehensive an account as Elena Conis in How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT. Conis describes her book’s intervention as similar to other histories of industry attempts to sow “scientific doubt” (p. 4). But while How to Sell a Poison provides some examples of corporate efforts to prevent regulation of DDT, the book’s most significant contribution is that it brings previously unheard voices to the fore of DDT’s history. Conis centers individuals harmed by DDT as well as the health officials, labor organizers, and lawyers who sought to reduce its damaging effects. The book contains gripping stories of environmental injustice, and its exquisite prose will undoubtedly attract a readership beyond the academy.

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