Rudd H L
Calif Med. 1970 Nov;113(5):27-32.
Synthetic chemicals are now being incorporated into the earth's ecosystems at a rate and in such manners as to alarm environmentalists. These chemicals are the uncontrolled waste products of a technological society. Most prominent among them at the present time are organochlorine, organomercurial and lead compounds. Persistent members of these groups disperse in water, air and animal tissues. Also they have the capacity for concentration in animal food chains, thereby reversing the historical expectation of the dilution and degradation of wastes. Examples of damage from environmental residues to man are at this stage speculative but documentation from effects on wild species is abundant. Already several species of birds seem on their way to extinction. These wild species constitute a gratuitous monitoring system which already has signaled clear warnings for the welfare of man.
合成化学物质正以令环保人士担忧的速度和方式融入地球生态系统。这些化学物质是技术社会产生的未经控制的废弃物。目前其中最突出的是有机氯、有机汞和铅化合物。这些物质中的持久性成分会分散在水、空气和动物组织中。它们还具有在动物食物链中富集的能力，从而颠覆了人们以往对废弃物稀释和降解的预期。现阶段，关于环境残留物对人类造成损害的例子只是推测性的，但关于其对野生物种影响的记录却很多。已经有几种鸟类似乎正走向灭绝。这些野生物种构成了一个免费的监测系统，已经为人类的福祉发出了明确的警告。
