EPA Ignores Toxic PCBs in Schools

By FRANK LINGO

PCBs, the toxic chemicals manufactured by Monsanto and banned since 1979, remain embedded in the ceilings, floors and walls of about 26,000 American schools, according to an October 2019 investigation by the Associated Press.

AP Reporters Tammy Webber and Martha Irvine revealed that both the Environmental Protection Agency and Congress have neglected corrective action on the toxins for the last 40 years.

A 2016 study by Harvard's T.H. Chan's School of Public Health found that the highly toxic chemicals could still be leaching from caulking, sealants and other fixtures and building materials, thus endangering 14 million children in elementary, middle and high schools nationwide. Even some older day care centers have the chemicals in fluorescent light ballasts.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls can cause a range of health ailments from cancer to liver damage and neurological problems. Younger children are the most vulnerable. There is no law requiring testing for this contamination in schools.

The AP report said the EPA never attempted to assess the contamination because of a lack of funding, political pressure, and pushback from industry and education groups. Congress also has done nothing.

So if funding the cleanup is a problem, can Monsanto be held accountable?

Yes. An August 2017 article in The Guardian showed that Monsanto went on producing and selling PCBs for at least eight years after their own research proved the chemicals could be hazardous to humans and the environment. But the poison purveyor should have known far earlier. In 1937, over 40 years before the ban, three Monsanto workers died from severe liver damage after handling PCBs.

Washington State, Los Angeles County and several cities including Baltimore and San Diego have filed lawsuits against Monsanto and their new German parent company Bayer. A jury in St. Louis has already returned a multi-million dollar guilty verdict in favor of three personal liability plaintiffs against Monsanto.

Since Bayer's executives paid over $60 billion in cash for Monsanto, it's obvious that Bayer has extremely deep pockets, even if they are not deep thinkers about acquiring a corporation with a reprehensible record of putting poison into people and the planet.

Hopefully, Bayer will be a bit less evil than Monsanto and see that it makes sense to settle the lawsuits, not to mention the class action suits that surely will follow, as all the states realize they have nothing to lose but contamination of their schools.

Frank Lingo is a writer and author of the novel "Earth Vote." Email lingofrank@gmail.com

From The Progressive Populist, December 1, 2019

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