A jury Tuesday cleared Monsanto Co. of allegations made by two Southlanders who said they developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from exposure to the synthetic compound polychlorinated biphenyl made by the corporation.
The Los Angeles Superior Court panel was in its fifth day of deliberations when it rejected the negligence/design defect lawsuit filed in April 2012 by Roslyn Dauber of Marina del Rey and John Di Costanzo of Laguna Niguel.
Attorneys for the agrochemical firm said PCBs had many practical benefits and weren’t the cause of the plaintiffs’ health issues.
Dauber, 62, had a career in filmmaking and Di Costanzo, 87, is a retired software developer.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Scott Frieling alleged Monsanto knew in the 1930s of potential toxic dangers related to PCBs and made about 99 percent of the synthetic compound produced in the U.S. But the company did not stop sales until 1977 while falsely representing that PCBs were safe, he told the jury.
Even though they are no longer manufactured, PCBs remain almost everywhere in the environment, according to Frieling.
No one escapes the impact of PCBs, which are made up of more than 200 man-made chemicals, Frieling said. PCBS are even found in rivers and streams and they pass from fish to those who consume them, he said.
Internal Monsanto memos from years ago document that despite knowing the dangers of the chemical compound, the company increased its sales of PCBs, Frieling said. The company refused to do tests to assess the long-term effects of the chemical compound and instead focused on short-term assessments that tended to show little toxic effect, Frieling alleged.
But Monsanto attorney Anthony Upshaw told jurors that PCBs were not the cause of the plaintiffs’ disease. He said their levels were no more significant than those of average human beings exposed to the chemical, and that Dauber is in remission.
NHL has many causes, including viruses, organ transplants that lower immunity levels and one’s age, Upshaw said. Enough of any substance can be toxic, including water, beer and salt, he said.
PCBs represented only 1 percent of Monsanto’s sales when the company made them and their benefits were widespread, Upshaw said. They were used in the insulation of electrical transformers to make them less likely to explode and in many other practical industrial applications that increased safety, he said.
Monsanto funded numerous studies on PCBs and the company met safety standards in their manufacture, Upshaw said.
— Wire reports