1971 SHELL OIL CO. FILM “ PESTICIDES IN FOCUS “ DEVELOPMENT & BENEFITS, HEALTH EFFECTS 98624

Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website This color educational film is about pesticides. The film was produced by Shell and made in 1971. It was directed by Richard Bigham and Richard Q. McNaughton, and was originally distributed by the Shell Corporation’s Agricultural Division. The film shows the development of new pesticides and their benefits, and examines the process of developing data so that pesticides can be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Opening titles: A Shell Film. Pesticides In Focus (:06-:36). Mountain view. Horses plow a field. People pick from muddy fields. Women pick grapes from grape vines. A woman plays with flour as he baby is on her back. Cities from all over the world - life is the city. Cars, people, tall buildings. Lots of people walking around. Plowing tractors go through wheat in a field (:37-2:43). Trees are knocked down in the forest. Animals flee as man creeps closer with their modern cities. People cut and pick crops in the fields. Corn has pests on it. Close on insects and larva as they threaten everything man grows. Field. People walk around near crops. Men spray crops and plants. Pesticides are sprayed by men onto the crops. A low flying small plane sprays crops. Damaged crop falls over. A man shakes an orange tree to collect the oranges. People cut the crops and cultivate them (2:44-5:25). Men spray pesticides in a village on sides of buildings. Men in all sorts of countries use pesticides and spray them. Aerial shot of a village town. A man sprays a lake with pesticides to get rid of gnats. Fish in the water, birds go after fish. A man on a boat. Food is served in a restaurant. A man brings a turkey to a table and starts to carve it. Animals in the wild. Insects attack a caterpillar. Coffee plantation. Ladybugs were used to kill the insects that were harming the coffee crop. Screw worms are bred in a factory, they live on flesh. Cows graze as do sheep. Screw worms like livestock. A man sterilizes screwworms and puts them in boxes, their eggs will never hatch. A plane flies high over crop. Cows rounded up (5:26-9:34). Bulls go in the water. Crops in the breeze. Lettuce crop, apple tree. A man sprays pesticides on leaves. A scientist works in a laboratory. A bunch of buildings where the scientists work. Chemists and scientists walk around and into a room a man starts looking at something. A scientist puts some insects into a jar with a plant. A man tests a pesticides spray. Bean leaves are being sprayed with a new type of pesticide (9:35-12:50). Jars hold leaves and the test pesticide. A mouse is given a test to see how a mammal reacts to it. Plants. Plants are sprayed on a conveyor belt. Soil is sprayed with a new pesticide to see how it reacts. Treated soil is given to earthworms to see how they react. Some pesticide is placed in water with fish. Bees are also experimented with. Birds eat from their feed. Those conducting the test do a test outside in the field by spraying crop. Some of the soil is picked up to be tested (12:51-16:11). Scientist does a check of the soil and a computer records his results. A toxicologist looks at the mammals that have been tested on. Another examines a rat to see how they have reacted to it. More rats and their offspring are looked at. Rat urine is looked at for damage to the kidneys (16:12-17:55). Rat blood is reviewed as well. Laboratory volunteers inhale pesticides. Tests are analyzed and recorded to see how those are reacting. Researchers review their data on computers. A helicopter sprays pesticides onto crops. A truck sprays the pesticides onto the crop as it drives through them. Computer prints paperwork. A man in the field observes. Some samples of soil are removed. Leaves are looked at in the field outside. A booklet called ’Petition for Tolerances’ is printed out en masse. The booklets are placed into a larger bound volume and stored away. A government agency reviews the testing procedures and evidence at the trials. The men discuss around a table (17:56-21:15). A farmer uses a machine to gather his oranges. A man collects some oranges and bags them, taking them away for review. Men have medical examinations when they work at the plant. Computer data is reviewed. A doctor looks over an x-ray and then jots down his conclusions. Men plow the fields by hand. Corn is cooked and served. People eat food. A woman gathers food. Birds fly around near the water. Locusts swarm and a child runs through the swarm (21:16-24:01). End credits (24:02-24:10). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit