By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER

Ohio Correspondent

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Monsanto produced and sold polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs, from 1929 until 1977. An internal Monsanto memorandum from 1937 acknowledges that PCBs produce “systemic toxic effects” resulting from prolonged exposure, according to the lawsuit filed against Monsanto by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

The suit seeks compensation and damages for Ohio, including funding for a plan to investigate and remove PCBs from the state’s natural resources. The chemical compounds were used for a variety of commercial and industrial purposes, according to the lawsuit.

They were used in paints, caulks, dyes, hydraulic fluids and more. Once in the environment, PCBs do not break down readily and may remain for decades. They move easily between air, water and soil, traveling great distances.

PCBs are associated with cancer in humans, skin and eye disorders, reduced birth weight, liver damage and other adverse health effects, the lawsuit alleges. Fish, birds and mammals that consume PCBs or PCB-contaminated water also suffer negative health effects. PCBs have been found in high concentrations in Ohio waters and soils.

Humans are exposed to PCBs mostly from eating contaminated food, breathing contaminated air or drinking or swimming in contaminated water. In the 1950s Monsanto’s Medical Office advised workers not to eat lunch in the PCB department, the lawsuit alleges.

Numerous government agencies recognize PCBs as probable or confirmed human carcinogens, the lawsuit states. In particular, the U.S. EPA recognizes PCBs as probable human carcinogens, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program considers PCBs to be “reasonably anticipated” carcinogens. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies PCBs as known human carcinogens.

The EPA finally banned PCBs in 1979, when the final rules implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) came into force, the lawsuit says. For many years before the TSCA enactment and the EPA’s implementing regulations, it alleges defendants vigorously denied in public statements that PCBs are harmful to human and environmental health, despite accumulating a wealth of knowledge contradicting such statements.

“Our goal in taking this action is to protect Ohio, its citizens, and its natural resources,” DeWine said.

Monsanto voluntarily stopped producing PCBs more than 40 years ago, said Scott Partridge, vice president of Global Strategy for the company.

“Monsanto sold PCBs to many industrial and manufacturing customers, as well as the U.S. government, which put them to various uses and disposed of them in different ways,” he said. “We are still reviewing this lawsuit, and we will defend ourselves aggressively.”

Filed in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, the lawsuit names as defendants Monsanto Co. and two related companies, Solutia, Inc. (which assumed operations of the original Monsanto Co.’s chemical business) and Pharmacia LLC (the successor to the original Monsanto Co.).