Where do pesticides fit into the picture of environmental disease We
have seen that they now pollute soil, water and food, that they have the
power to make our stream fishless and our gardens and woodlands silent 41 ______
and birdless. Man, however much he may like to pretend the contrary, is
part of nature. Can he escape a pollution is now so thoroughly 42 ______
distributed throughout our world
We know that even single exposures to these chemicals, if the amount is
large enough, can lead extremely severe poisoning. But this is not the major 43 ______
problem. The sudden illness or death of farmers, farm workers, and others
exposed to sufficient quantities of pesticides are very sad and should not occur. 44 ______
For the population as whole, we must be more concerned with the delayed 45 ______
effects of absorbing small amounts of the pesticides that visibly pollute 46 ______
our world.
Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological
affects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of time, 47 ______
but the danger to individual may depend on the sum of the exposures 48 ______
received throughout his lifetime. For these very reasons the danger is
easily ignored. It is human nature to shake off that may seem to us a 49 ______
threat of future disaster. "Men are naturally most impressed by diseases
which have obvious signs," says a wise physician, Dr. Rene Dubos,
"yet some of their worst enemies slowly approach to them unnoticed." 50 ______