Bayer Monsanto: PCB maker ordered to pay $857m for toxic leaks

Monsanto, a chemical firm owned by German pharmaceutical company Bayer, has been ordered to pay $857 million (£676 million) to seven individuals who claimed to have suffered health issues due to chemicals leaking from light fixtures at a US school. The plaintiffs, including former students and parent volunteers, asserted that exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at the Sky Valley Education Centre in Washington state caused neurological and endocrine system problems.

A jury found Monsanto negligent and liable for selling unsafe PCBs without adequate warnings. The chemicals were banned by the US government in 1979 due to their association with cancer. Monsanto, which ceased PCB production in 1977, stated it had advised the school to retrofit the light fixtures since the 1990s. The company intends to appeal the verdict, claiming it is “constitutionally excessive.”

This legal setback adds to Monsanto’s challenges, as it is already facing substantial legal costs from cases involving its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, has settled or dismissed 113,000 of the 160,000 Roundup-related cases, earmarking $16 billion to cover the litigation.