by Gerald A. LeBlanc

About the author: Gerald A. LeBlanc is an associate professor at North Carolina State University’s Department of Toxicology in Raleigh.

The year 1995 marked the 25th anniversary of both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Earth Day. The inception of both institutions signified the need to temper anthropogenic stresses on the environment or face unsettling consequences. Decades of environmental abuse culminated in the 1960s when public perception of the repercussion of unabated environmental pollution was heightened by Rachel Carson’s [author of Silent Spring] graphic depictions. The pressing environmental problems of the 1960s were blatant. Among the most significant of problems were chemical and sewage discharges making aquatic resources unsuitable for human use and habitation by aquatic organisms, and the use of pesticides, which posed a significant threat to nontarget species. In...