Preview

DDT and ethics

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1968 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
DDT and ethics
Introduction
Paul Muller, a Swiss chemist and Nobel Prize winner was the one who discovered the DDT which was found to be very effective as a pesticide. In the 40s it was used in the agriculture sector to help kill crop-eating insects. From 1942 onwards it started being commercialized with big companies such as the Montrose Chemical Corporation at the frontline of this pioneering product. At first, the product proved to be quite a sensation drastically reducing the amount of malaria resulting in saving many lives. It also had a huge impact in agriculture with its effective control on pests. Later on there were reports of DDT being harmful to the environment, people and animals. In fact, there was a book that was published by Rachel Carson entitled “Silent Spring” that outlined the dangers of the DDT. A year after the book was published, President John F Kennedy ordered a committee to investigate the book’s veracity and it was found to be accurate and that persistent toxic pesticides should be phased out as soon as possible. What followed was DDT being banned from the public by government decree after conclusive research of how dangerous it is to the environment. The product was however still sold to other countries outside of the US for some time before some of the countries themselves decided to ban it. The purpose of this report is to explore ethical issues and philosophies brought forth by some of the world’s ethicists and philosophers in an effort to advocate for the ban of DDT.
Violation of Ethical Standards in manufacturing and selling DDT
Any manufacturing business should have a code of ethics that should me more than just a set of rules set for its employees. It should go beyond the organization and be a set of rules that protects all its stakeholders and most importantly they must be enforceable. The Montrose Chemical Corporation did violate some of the ethical standards in the manufacturing and selling of DDT to the public as the case may suggest.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In order to operate ethically in a global marketplace, corporations like Exxon Mobil need to define the conduct that they expect from their officers, executives, managers and employees. Without a defined code of conduct, employees feel forced to use their personal mores to determine what actions they should take in ethically ambiguous situations. Like children on a playground, employees need to know where the fences are so that they can work effectively.…

    • 2516 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The code of ethics is adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between 'right' and 'wrong' and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An effective code of ethics should also help to delineate the proper procedures to determine whether a violation of the code of ethics has occurred and, if so, what remedies should be imposed. After reviewing the company’s code of ethics, we found that it has well established the concept of business ethics and the company’s objective, and also several kinds of encouragement to promote the ethical business behavior effectively. The company’s code of ethics, however, is not practical enough for implementation as the content is too general and vague, and there are not enough guidelines and regulations to help the staff to detect or solve the ethical issues.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1950's to 1960's were characterized by and catalyzed the national environmental movement, which increased people's environmental awareness in the nation. Rachel Carson, a biologist, wrote a book discussing the destructive effects of pesticides to inform the public and urge them to act against the use of these damaging poisons. In the excerpt from Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Carson states that the use of parathion is not worth the damage down to the natural world by describing its widespread damage to nature and placing guilt on farmers' for their ignorance to the harm done on society.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson is regarded as the most significant environmental novel as it was the start of the environmental movement. This book highlights the human poisoning of the biosphere through chemicals aimed at pests and disease control, particularly dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). DDT pesticides were particularly harmful because as they entered the biosphere, they not only killed the bugs but also entered the food chain. DDT accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals and humans which had potential to cause cancer and genetic damage. This also contaminated world food supply as DDT can enter any animal that we eat. Despite the immense effect of DDT some insects survived and passed on their resistance resulting in tougher descendants, so more toxic insecticides needed to be…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Of "De-vyled Ham"and DDT: A Comparison of the Causes, Effects, and Legacy of Upton Sinclair 's The Jungle and Rachel Carson 's Silent Spring…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This entry focuses mainly on the chemical DDT, which is over consumed on various vegetation, however, the overall idea is regarding our environment and how human actions are abolishing it, although it may be unintentional. To be more specific, the central idea consists of the environmental actions that are backfiring on our population in a negative way. Furthermore, in my opinion, Rachel Carson desires to spread awareness about the harmful deeds that are destroying our environment and our society’s health.…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rachel Carson uses horrifying evidence to grab the reader’s attention. She writes of the destructive chemicals in pesticides used on all types of vegetation for the destruction of insects, but the chemical war on bugs shall never be won. In her essay Rachel Carson explains “ …insects, in a triumphant vindication of Darwin’s principle of the survival of the fittest, have evolved super races immune to the particular insecticides used, hence a deadlier one has always to be developed” (614). Pesticides intention may be only to destroy a few types of weeds and insects but Rachel Carson poses the question “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?” (614). Carson also touches on man-made radiation releasing harsh chemicals into the air, such as Strontium 90, which comes down as rain and soaks into the earth or even “…in time takes up its abode in the bones of a human being, there to remain until his…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Sibley, John. (1997). State committee Urges a Ban on DDT and Related Pesticides. The New York…

    • 4309 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    All organizations that are currently operational have or ought to have a code of ethics in which is being followed. The importance of ethics in any organization helps direct in what way they will respond to internal and external stimulus. The largest organization in the world is Walmart, I work as sales manager for a CPG company and interact with Walmart every day. They deal with a great deal of external social pressures that influence their ethics. Walmart has dealt with its fair share of lawsuits as they have been in litigation 4,851 times just in the year 2000 alone Willing, R. (2001, August 13). Every time a concern rises they constantly analyze…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics, ethical values, and social responsibility should all work in unison in a corporate business structure. These key traits are better defined as maintaining overall good business morals, obtaining employees who possess personal ethical values, and finally to behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. For a business to better ensure these quality business traits a code of ethics should be adopted by the business. In the cases of Bernie Madoff and Enron, the most well-known financial scandals in history, I feel, gave a major hand in pushing business all across America to have and enforce the code of ethics.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This was probably due to the use of this chemical during World War II. Rachel Carson quietly sounded an alarm for the world to recognize the harms in polluting the world with dangerous chemicals. By the early 1960s, after intense spraying worldwide, particularly of DDT, reports of malformed animals and their eggs began to surface and the alarms on DDT’s hazard became an apparent shock to most people. She told the world the truth behind the chemicals that caused such atrocities not only to animals but humans as well. When her book Silent Spring was published in 1962 it created a heated debate between conservationists and the chemical industry. The chemical industry publicly denounced the book. The pesticide manufacturers made valiant efforts to educate the public about the benefits and importance of pesticides in 1962, by mailing out monthly news stories to the mass media. Furthermore, the president of the industry-backed American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) said, “- in the opinion of the ACSH - the benefits of DDT's power to kill insects who may carry diseases that threaten humans outweigh the chemical's effects on wildlife and humans. In addition, ACSH questions whether DDT affects wildlife and humans adversely at all.” Carson’s particular warning against 12 of the most harmful chemical poisons gave rise to the…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rachel Carson revealed the dangers imposed by indiscriminate pesticide use in her 1962 book, Silent Spring. Although Carson used DDT as her focus, the chemical was an example of the numerous synthesized pesticides employed in many aspects of mankind’s daily lives. As a biologist with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Carson was alerted to the “numerous case reports of damage to birds and fish after DDT application” and believed that “because DDT was so effective, it unbalanced ecosystems” (Oreskes (2010) page 219). Carson expanded her research and eventually published her revealing book to alert the public and bring an end to indiscriminate use. The book made numerous claims against pesticides, illustrated the destruction caused by prior use and warned of a future in which “over increasingly large areas… spring comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song” (Carson (1962) page 88).…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Silent Spring was the right science book published at the right time. It brought the concerns about environmental to the general public. It led to a nationwide ban on DDT and the creation of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. DDT’s insecticidal action was discovered by the Swiss chemist in 1939 ("DDT"). The widely use in agricultural started after the World War II. The Swiss chemist was even awarded the Nobel Prize since DDT was so efficiency to kill inserts. Nevertheless people did not notice that DDT was also a great threat to the environmental and wildlife especially birds. People like to talk about sustainable development in recent years; DDT is a great counter example of it. Although it is very efficiency to kill inserts, it…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Agriculture was first started around the year 8,000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia. There the plants grew along with food so humans could eat them. These first parts of farming faced many challenges with insects and pests eating away their crops. During the era of 1000 B.C.E. the Chinese began experimenting with elements such as mercury and other compounds to contain the insects. Other civilizations would use chemicals to contain pests. The usage of chemicals has occupied agriculture, and even more recently in the 1940’s inorganic substances composed of various elements were heavily used to contain the insects affecting the crops. The growth of many synthetic pesticides occurred during this time, the most common one was DDT. DDT was used the most…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During her scientific research, Carson discovered that people were misusing pesticides to kill insects that caused much damage. She became aware of the harm that people were doing to earth and all the living things. Some scientists came up with powerful chemicals that would kill insects effectively. One of them was called DDT. "Their pesticides effectiveness in controlling insects was unchallenged, but many scientists and ecologists became increasingly concerned about the indiscriminate use of the chemicals, whose poisons affected not only pests but also many other life forms, including humans." (Carson "Elixirs," 8) People would spray those chemicals everywhere it was possible because they thought it was harmless to them but helpful to get rid of all the insects that were causing some damage, yet…

    • 956 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays