Sonoma County Gazette, February 2015: Another Great American Heroine

Two Great American Heroines….
Theo Colborn died a month ago at the age of 87. She was the Rachel Carson of our time, a tireless advocate in the field of endocrine disruption, also referred to euphemistically these days as contaminants of emerging concern (CEC’s). But these concerns have been emerging for the last 50 years or more and it is our impression that not enough has been done in that time by elected representatives and governmental agency officials to address the issue, while humans beings, wildlife, and aquatic life, usually unknowingly, are paying the price for this neglect.

Rachel Carson taught us about the devastating effects of pesticides, especially DDT, on songbirds and other creatures, and was severely chastised for her views by some, while given hero status by others. Carson challenged the belief that man could and should control nature with poisonous products, and she spoke extensively of the price to be paid for our assault upon the land in order to control the ‘pests’. She tragically died from breast cancer in 1964 at the age of 57. Many other pesticides have replaced DDT since then, but the problem of toxicity of our soils, waterways, food, fish and wildlife, etc. have remained.