"Enlightened" Science Will Rule The Day
by
Harold S. Stein, Jr.
As published in PCT Magazine, October 1997
What plagues our industry today is not only the existence of "junk science" but its use by environmental militants, socio-economic reformers and bureaucrats to frighten the public and disarm the pest control industry, not only of its pesticides, but of its treatment protocols. What makes their tactics so successful is the emotional response their propaganda elicits from the public. This response attracts the attention of the news media which, in turn, transforms it into dramatic headlines designed to further alarm the public. In short, as bad as the alleged news may be, it makes wonderful headlines and ultimately is great for their business.
The proof of this is amply illustrated by reviewing some of the past public panics brought on by junk science. Our national media feeds its audience a steady diet of negative pesticide stories "supported" by a generous supply of anecdotal fright-facts. For those of us who actively were engaged in and witnessed the day-to-day trials surrounding the DDT and chlordane/heptachlor hearings, we received a firsthand lesson on not only junk science, but also fraudulent science. I would advise anyone who is vulnerable to either high blood pressure or tension headaches not to read the official proceedings of those two events!
We in the pest control industry are affected by junk science in a unique way that will test our mettle and challenge our role as pest management professionals. The chemicals and procedures we use are a double-edged sword. In providing our services we are damned if we do too much and likewise if we do too little. On the one hand, if we over-treat we run the risk of contaminating the property and injuring people. Conversely, failing our mission jeopardizes the public health by placing our food supply at risk and exposing the public to a variety of insect-transmitted diseases and other pest problems. These are realities that no current "politically correct" philosophy will alter.
As an aside, this fact has never been fully understood or acknowledged by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in my opinion. Of all the substances which they were originally assigned to control and monitor, pesticides were the only class that was not a waste-product. Like the myriad drugs that form the backbone of our current medical therapy, the products we use are potent and not without hazard, but they serve a purpose which, in turn, enhances and protects our lives.
As a pharmacist I could never understand the public’s inability to view pesticides as we do prescription drugs. The recognition that all of our medicines -- be it aspirin, penicillin, cortisone or digitalis -- are toxic is simply taken for granted. Some of our favorite life-saving medications have a safety factor of only four-to-one, meaning that the ingestion of only four times the amount of the dose we gleefully and confidently pop into our mouths will kill us. We don’t give it a second thought. We train our physicians, nurses and pharmacists and expect them to keep us safe from harm, spending our time worrying about and arguing over the billing snafus of our health insurance carriers!
But not so with pesticides, which by the way are frequently discovered and manufactured by the same trusted companies that bring us our drugs. On the contrary, at the first whisper of suspicion or following a flagrant and rare incident of abuse, the "anti-pesticide" forces -- with great public support and media coverage -- clamor for the product’s total withdrawal from the market. Enhanced training or less access to indiscriminate users? No, no, no! Banish the chemical and void its passport so that it may never again be found on our soil!
Our industry’s experience with junk science is particularly ironic because we are fundamentally a prisoner of science. On a daily basis, we live and deal with the most fundamental expression of "fact" -- nature. There is nothing more factual than the life cycle of an ant, the blood chemistry of a mosquito, the fecal contents of a rat. No study, proclamation, statute, ordinance or regulation will change the fundamental biology, physiology, chemistry and pathology of the vast animal kingdom we encounter every day while performing our job.
For us then to be buffeted with criticism by a public quoting anecdotal data which, in the final analysis, is misleading or untrue is more than frustrating, it’s ludicrous. Ultimately, you see, we can’t fool Mother Nature. Someday, as with the recent discovery of a German cockroach link to some childhood asthma, the cause-and-effect relationship between insects and disease, along with the hundreds of other problems caused by pests, will come to pass. That which was falsely hyped as a panacea will fail and there will be no escaping the tragic consequences, and those who fabricated forecasts of doom will grow weary as the unfounded fears they implanted in the minds of the public remain just that ... unfounded and unborn. It is inevitable: what is...is.
Our mission as an industry, therefore, is crystal clear. The use of imprecise data, publishing new findings via press conferences, short-cutting tests, and making blind or preposterous assumptions from quite limited events, all under the guise of science, must be challenged at all costs. We must remain students of science and apostles of common sense and disciplined actions. We should patiently address our critics and without fanfare explain to the public our findings, recommendations and rationales.
We should take steps to educate the public about the benefits versus risks of pesticides, and work cooperatively with legislators and the media when pesticide-related issues enter the public arena.
Whatever we do must be accomplished with precision so that whatever the results may be, our actions can in no way provide safe harborage for the foolish and misguided people who have, through their excesses, placed our public health and progress in jeopardy.
In short, if we wish to labor as professionals in this field of public service, we must continue to hone our skills, and patiently attempt, through actions and deeds, to guide our customers to an eventual understanding and enlightened use of science to enhance the quality of all our lives.
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