Cancer Patients Take on Chemical Giant Behind One of Region's Most Notorious Pollutants

By BILL HETHERMAN

LOS ANGELES, CA - A lawyer for two Southlanders with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma told a jury today that they developed the disease from exposure to the synthetic compound polychlorinated biphenyl made by Monsanto Co., but an attorney for the agrochemical firm said PCBs had many practical benefits and weren't the cause of the plaintiffs' health issues.

The attorneys made their remarks during opening statements of the Los Angeles Superior Court trial of a negligence/design defect lawsuit in which Roslyn Dauber of Marina del Rey and John Di Costanzo of Laguna Niguel are seeking compensation from Monsanto.

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 jurors.

Even though they are no longer manufactured, PCBs remain almost everywhere in the environment, according to Frieling.

"They are very difficult to break down," Frieling said "They are virtually indestructible. Once PCBs are created, they will last a very long time."

No one escapes the impact of PCBs, which are made up of more than 200 man-made chemicals, Frieling said.

"We all store PCBs in our body at some level," he said.

PCBS are even found in rivers and streams and they pass from fish to those who consume them, Frieling said.

"Once they get into the food chain, they make their way into people, as well," Frieling 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.

The attorney said the dangers of PCBs will be fully explained to jurors by Kristan Aronson, a cancer care expert who was a member of the International Agency for Research on Cancer working group that studied PCBs and cancer.

Aronson will testify that PCBs can cause NHL as well as other diseases, including melanoma, Aronson said.

Frieling said Dauber and Di Costanzo were unaware that PCBs in their diet could contribute to their lymphoma.

"They didn't know that with every meal, PCBs over time accumulated in their bodies," he said.

But Monsanto attorney Anthony Upshaw told jurors that PCBs were not the cause of the plaintiffs' NHL. 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.

Related: Malibu PCB: 'No Safe Levels,' Expert Says

City News Service; Photo: Wikimedia Commons