In 1990, newspapers across the country reported on how Monsanto altered studies to obscure the health effects of dioxin. According to an internal federal memo from the EPA, Monsanto manipulated results to deny the toxicity of dioxin. One newspaper highlighted in this collection reports: “Chemists at Monsanto Chemical Co. fraudulently

In 1984, the scientific publishing house Springer-Verlag published the article “Health Risks to Female Workers in Occupational Exposure to Chemical Agents” to warn the public about the health effects of exposure to plastic monomers such as vinyl chloride, styrene, caprolactam, acrylates, and formaldehyde. Following the introduction, the article details how

In 1994, the public relations firm Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin, Inc. sent a document titled “MDB Activist Report for August” to the Chlorine Chemical Council (CCC) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The report states: “Attached is a list of all the recommendations we provided CCC in August as to

Monsanto halted their production of PCBs in 1977, however, the issue of PCB waste remained a persistent problem. The document highlighted below is an internal record of recommendations posed to Monsanto following the EPA’s impending regulation that would tighten restrictions on PCB waste management. The recommendation is as stated:

In 1991, the Journal of Air & Waste Management Association published the article “Chlorinated Solvents: Will the Alternatives be Safer?” in which the authors discuss concerns over the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCS) which were known to be greenhouse gasses. The authors of the article reveal that in the case of

In the early 1980s, the Environmental Action, Inc. and Sierra Club began a campaign to “locate and expose the nation’s unsafe hazardous waste sites.” Check out the document here [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/LK3xY2zxxJY0dQNKbxG4KkQj3#] to learn more about their pioneering advocacy!

While reproductive rights have been a focus of national politics, “reproductive toxins” which can cause adverse effects on reproductive systems continue to be left out of this discussion. In a 1988 inter-organization correspondence from BF Goodrich on the reproductive toxins, “Cadmium, Lead Pigments and/or Stabilizers,” the author of the

In honor of Labor Day, we are highlighting a document from the 1961 National Safety Congress on Labor Safety. The document discusses the implications of the case of the 'Radium Girls' who sued their employers for radiation poisoning in the 1930s, setting a legal precedent for occupational diseases.

In the eye of a hurricane, oil and chemical hubs pose a toxic threat to surrounding communities. When the plants shut down before big storms, they produce an onslaught of toxic pollution which puts nearby areas at risk of exposure. Furthermore, following a big storm there is often oil and

Last week, the EPA announced measures to ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in food production. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide commonly used on crops and animals to kill insects and worms, however, studies have linked it to neurological damage in children. The document below highlights the administrative conflict

The document [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/mBkxdNywrymQ61meM6qZNGjvk?lightbox=1] we are highlighting today is a letter from the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America to Dr. Robert Kehoe at the University of Cincinnati. The letter is from Jan 29, 1964, and penned by Robert T.P. deTreville. Both figures, Dr.

In 1979, veterans of the Vietnam War filed a class action lawsuit against Monsanto to secure a $40 billion trust fund to compensate the veterans for cancer, miscarriages, and birth defects they claimed were caused by exposure to Monsanto’s product Agent Orange. Five years later, these Vietnam veterans received

Despite increasing concerns about the effects of dioxin on occupational health in the late twentieth-century, industry scientists continued to downplay the toxicity of the chemical. The document highlighted is a confidential letter on dioxin written by the managing epidemiologist William Gaffey at Monsanto's Department of Medicine & Environmental

Read the correspondence between the marketing director of the Monsanto Company and the vice president of the electric corporation Westinghouse Canada Limited about PCB’s: “Accordingly, Buyer [Westinghouse Canada Limited] hereby covenants and agrees that, with respect to any and all PCB’s sold or delivered by or on behalf

With recent news [https://www.npr.org/2021/05/25/997671845/president-biden-wants-to-replace-all-lead-pipes-flint-has-lessons-to-share] that the Biden Administration wants to replace all lead pipes, it is necessary to understand the role of industry in promoting the use of lead. In 1933, the Lead Industries Association published a series of articles supporting the

Many people know that consuming too much seafood with high levels of mercury can be poisonous. However, fewer people know about the effects of consuming seafood with high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCBs [https://www.epa.gov/pcbs/learn-about-polychlorinated-biphenyls-pcbs] are man-made industrial compounds that have a range of toxicity

The Supreme Court's latest decision [https://www.npr.org/2021/06/01/1002149828/supreme-court-johnson-johnson-talc-verdict-ovarian-cancer] to uphold a $2 billion verdict in favor of individuals who claimed that they developed cancer from using Johnson & Johnson talc baby powder sheds light on how industry responds to regulations. While this

Over the past year Johnson & Johnson has made headlines for releasing the first single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. However, when it comes to consumer products, the firm's past has come under scrutiny as well. Though concerns were raised about the presence of asbestos in their talc baby powder, Johnson

The Biden Administration seeks to eradicate “the lead pipe city” of America, however, it will take more than money to regulate industry. In April 2021, President Joe Biden delivered remarks on the “American Jobs Plan” which could help accelerate replacing the nation’s lead water pipes. Out of the $2

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the news cycle is filled with journalism on the crisis--the spread of the virus, a potential vaccine, the deaths. In 1957, the newspapers were reporting on the H2N2 influenza pandemic, a virus which ended up killing more than 1 million people worldwide, according

In 1979, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a question and answer booklet [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/85D7kgaMkKY1QG1NGG7J9npGZ?lightbox=1] to help schools investigate, find, and remove the asbestos that could possibly be lurking in their buildings. However, these guidelines were still merely suggestions, not enforced laws. Today, the

The history of America is the history of lead. That is what the National Lead Company claimed in the 38 page booklet they compiled outlining the history of their company and products. This booklet [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/kxyk8LgXJ747YD5Ej6QBgzdb?lightbox=1] was dedicated to their employees. In it, the