April 1, 2009br /br /The first 5 of 47 personal injury lawsuits are coming to trial for exposure to PCBs from old Monsanto’s Anniston, Alabama, plant. The company manufactured PCBs there from the 1930s to 1971. Monsanto is now known as Pharmacia Corp. Litigants claim that Monsanto was negligent in its handling and disposal of the chemical at its factory, that it routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston creek and dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills which flowed off the factory property in stormwater.br /br /Litigants claim that PCB exposure caused health conditions including diabetes and arthritis.br /br /Lawsuits against Monsanto and its affiliated companies began in 1996. In 2003, Monsanto, Solutia, Pfizer and Pharmacia agreed to a settlement that included $600 million in cash payments and community health services, resolving both state and federal lawsuits. Current lawsuits come from plaintiffs who did not benefit from the previous settlement. Five plaintiffs whose cases were randomly selected for the first trial in Jefferson County range in age from 67 to 89.br /br /Augusta Dowd, an attorney representing Pharmacia, said there is no credible scientific evidence that PCB caused any of the illnesses. She said diabetes and arthritis are common for people their age. The trial is expected to last at least two weeks.br /br /strongDr. Grout’s Comment:/strongbr /br /The now-banned industrial coolants known as PCBs were once known as miracle chemicals. They are unusually nonflammable, and conduct heat without conducting electricity. Many safety codes once mandated the use of PCBs as insulation in transformers and other electrical equipment. They also were used in paints, newsprint, carbon paper, deep-fat fryers, adhesives, and even bread wrappers. Although internal Monsanto memos warned of PCBs dangers, the warning bell did not ring publically until the late 1960s.br /br /It can be tough to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that illness has resulted from a specific exposure to toxins. The human body is fairly resilient, and it can take years for the disease to manifest. How many years after a person starts smoking do they develop lung cancer, for example?br /br /Lawyers may muddy the picture in court, but we know the human body will break down when confronted with more than it can handle. Environmental Working Group has documented that we are all polluted, and from Day One. Babies are born with a a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/body_burden.html”body burden/a, on average, of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants. Play it safe, remove as chemicals as possible from your environment.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4769404502414351890-6748044266731593268?l=arizonaadvancedmedicine.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div