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Facts:
In 1929, the Theodore Swann Company became the first company in the nation to produce PCBs. ... Reacting to the high growth and potential profits and uses of PCBs, Monsanto purchased the Swann Company (Beiles, 2000). ... A 1935 internal memo stated that PCBs “cannot be considered non-toxic” (Grunwald, 2002).
The first governmental knowledge of the dangers of PCBs came when the United States Navy’s study in the 1950s indicated that PCBs were toxic to rabbits. The following decade Swedish researchers found high levels of PCBs in the environment, leading Monsanto officials to become concerned about future government regulations (Beiles, 2000). ... At the same time though, the production of PCBs continued. Monsanto and other chemical companies expressed skepticism of the relationship between PCBs and other diseases (Beiles, 2000). But the studies and reports continued to link PCBs with damaging the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system (Beiles, 2000).
To keep ahead of the negative publicity surrounding the production, use and disposal of PCBs, Monsanto established a committee charged with keeping track of the issues, with the formal objective of “permit[ting] continued sales and profits…and protect[ing] image of …the corporation. ... When the residents of Anniston, Alabama went to court over the damages associated with the contamination of their homes and land, an internal memo from this same committee was released stating: “PCBS are exhibiting a greater deal of toxicity than we expected” (Grunwald, 2002}. ...
Monsanto’s own internal studies began to establish the dangers of PCBs with quotes ranging from “[PCBs are] exhibiting a greater degree of toxicity [than expected] (Beiles, 2000), to “the evidence regarding PCB effects on environmental quality is sufficiently substantial, wide spread and alarming to require immediate corrective action” (Grunwald, 2002). ... The grossest abuse by Monsanto is illustrated in the minutes of a meeting at which time a 1975 memo amended to read “does not appear carcinogenic” in direct contradiction to study that found PCBs caused tumors in rats.
Approximate Word count = 1578
Approximate Pages = 6.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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