In 1929, the Monsanto corporation began manufacturing an amber oily
fluid formed of two bound carbon rings bristling with chlorine atoms.
The new fluid was called polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB. Its chemistry
is similar to other members of the organochlorine family, such as
dioxins and furans, among the most potent toxins known. Soon, the
General Electric corporation was heavily invested in a line of products
based on PCBs. Since then, over one million pounds of PCBs have been
discharged into the Hudson River. G.E. maintains that these
discharges were legal.
According to leading scientists Dr. Theo Colborn, Dr. J. P. Myers and
Dr. David Carpenter, the noncancer impact of PCBs can be summed up as
diminishing the human potential of future generations. |