Tampering with Evidence: Monsanto, Dioxin, and Public Health

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 manipulated a key study that has helped convince other scientists that toxic chemicals known as dioxins do not cause high rates of cancer in humans.”

Amidst these reports, Georgia paper mills attempted to convince the Department of Natural Resources board to implement a weakened dioxin standard that was 500 times weaker than then EPA’s recommended limit. The World Health Organization has since confirmed that “dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.” Despite this, Monsanto remains the world’s largest seed company and one of the largest supporters of pesticide manufacturing today.

Check out the collection of documents here!