Theo Colborn--The "Modern Rachel Carson"?

• In Event: Revisiting Rachel Carson’s Place in Environmental History

Abstract

Theo Colborn (1927-2014) has been called "the modern Rachel Carson" for extending Carson's discovery of the harmful effects of DDT to persistent toxic chemicals identified in the 1980s as causing developmental disorders in fish, aquatic birds, and wildlife in the Great Lakes Basin. This paper compares and contrasts the work, methodology, and accomplishments of these two important figures in environmental history to analyze the ways in which this attribution is appropriate and how Colborn built on Carson’s legacy to fashion the new science of endocrine disruption.

Author

• Marsha Leigh Richmond, Wayne State University