Monsanto’s PCB Legacy: Anniston, Health Studies, Agent Orange, and the Lawsuits Still Unfolding

In the 2010s, a photographer traveled across the United States and to Vietnam documenting places and people affected by chemicals made by Monsanto, publishing the work as a photographic investigation that drew wide attention. The images covered a chemical legacy that predates the company’s later fame for genetically engineered seeds and the herbicide Roundup: polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, made by Monsanto for decades, and Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War.

Unlike many claims about Monsanto that circulate online, the history of PCB contamination is extensively documented in court records, settlements, environmental cleanups, and scientific studies. This article reviews what PCBs are, what happened in Anniston, Alabama, what research found about health effects in exposed communities, how litigation has continued into the 2020s, and what the legacy means today.

What happened with Monsanto and PCBs in Anniston, Alabama? For decades, a Monsanto plant in Anniston made PCBs and discharged the toxic chemicals into the local environment, heavily contaminating a largely Black community. Internal documents later showed the company knew of the dangers. Lawsuits resulted in settlements of about $700 million in the early 2000s. PCBs persist for decades and are linked to cancer and developmental harm.

What Are PCBs?

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are toxic, extremely persistent industrial chemicals once used in electrical equipment and other products; Monsanto was the sole U.S. producer until they were banned in 1979. Polychlorinated biphenyls are a family of 209 related chemical compounds made by adding chlorine atoms to biphenyl molecules. They are chemically stable, do not burn easily, and insulate electricity well, which made them valuable in electrical transformers and capacitors, hydraulic fluids, and as additives in paints, caulks, sealants, carbonless copy paper, and fluorescent light ballasts. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs were domestically manufactured from 1929 until they were banned in 1979, and they remain in older equipment and buildings.

The same stability that made PCBs useful makes them persistent pollutants. They break down slowly, accumulate in fat tissue, and build up in food chains, especially in fish. Even decades after production ended, PCBs remain detectable in the environment and in people worldwide, with diet, particularly contaminated fish, being a main source of exposure for the general population.

What Happened in Anniston, Alabama?

For decades, Monsanto’s Anniston plant manufactured PCBs and released them into the air, soil, and waterways, severely contaminating a largely Black, working-class community that was not warned of the dangers. From 1929 until 1971, a chemical plant in Anniston, Alabama, produced PCBs, first under the Swann Chemical Company and, from 1935, under Monsanto. Waste from the plant contaminated soil, creeks, and neighborhoods, particularly in the predominantly Black west side of the city near the plant. Internal company documents later released in litigation showed that the company had information about PCB contamination and its potential harms years before production stopped, which became a central issue in lawsuits.

As Grist reported in 2003, Monsanto and its chemical spin-off, Solutia, agreed to pay $700 million to settle state and federal lawsuits involving more than 20,000 plaintiffs over five decades of PCB pollution in Anniston, along with funding for cleanup, an education trust, and a health clinic and research facility. According to the plaintiffs’ law firm Beasley Allen, the settlement created a $600 million fund for about 21,000 plaintiffs, with Monsanto paying $390 million, Solutia $50 million, and insurers the remainder, plus court-supervised remediation. Areas of Anniston were later addressed under the EPA’s Superfund program.

How Did PCBs Affect Anniston Residents’ Health?

Residents showed elevated PCB levels in their blood, and studies have linked PCB exposure to cancer, diabetes, immune and reproductive effects, and developmental harm in children. In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer upgraded PCBs to its highest category, carcinogenic to humans, based on sufficient evidence that they cause melanoma, with limited evidence for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and breast cancer, as summarized in The Lancet Oncology by Lauby-Secretan and colleagues. PCBs have also been linked in research to effects on the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems, and to neurodevelopmental effects in children exposed before birth.

The Anniston Community Health Survey, conducted in the mid-2000s with federal funding, measured PCBs in the blood of hundreds of adult residents. A 2012 analysis in Environmental Health Perspectives by Allen Silverstone and colleagues found that participants with the highest blood PCB levels had about 2.8 times the odds of diabetes compared with those with the lowest levels, with associations mainly among women and people under 55. A 2011 analysis in the same journal by Alexey Goncharov and colleagues found that, apart from age, total serum PCB concentration was the strongest determinant of blood pressure among the factors studied, with associations extending into the normal blood pressure range. These cross-sectional studies show associations rather than proof of causation, but they add to evidence that PCB exposure may affect metabolic and cardiovascular health.

Effects on Children’s Development

Some of the most influential PCB research has examined children exposed before birth. In the Great Lakes region, women who regularly ate contaminated fish had higher PCB levels, which pass across the placenta and into breast milk. A 1996 study in the New England Journal of Medicine by Joseph and Sandra Jacobson followed 212 children, many born to mothers who had eaten Lake Michigan fish, and tested them at age 11. The most highly exposed children were about three times as likely to have low average IQ scores and twice as likely to be at least two years behind in reading comprehension, with prenatal rather than breastfeeding exposure most strongly linked to these effects. This research contributed to fish consumption advisories that recommend extra caution for pregnant people and young children.

How Is PCB Contamination Cleaned Up?

PCB cleanup involves removing or containing contaminated soil and sediment, long-term monitoring, and Superfund oversight, a slow and costly process that can take decades. Cleaning up PCB contamination is slow and expensive. In soil, contaminated material is often excavated and taken to licensed disposal facilities or treated on site, and residential yards near PCB sources may be replaced with clean soil, as happened in parts of Anniston. In rivers and lakes, PCBs bind to sediments, so cleanup may involve dredging contaminated sediment, capping it with clean material, or relying on natural burial over time, each with trade-offs. Dredging projects such as the one on New York’s Hudson River, where General Electric discharged PCBs from its own plants, have taken years and cost billions of dollars. Monitoring fish and sediment levels after cleanup shows whether efforts are working, often over decades.

What Did the Lawsuits Reveal About Monsanto?

Litigation uncovered internal documents showing Monsanto was aware of PCB toxicity and contamination for years while continuing production, leading to settlements of about $700 million in the early 2000s. Lawsuits over PCBs brought to light internal company records showing that Monsanto had information about PCB toxicity and environmental contamination, including effects on fish in waterways near the Anniston plant, years before production ended. Plaintiffs have argued that the company continued production and sales while downplaying risks; Monsanto and its successors have contended that they acted consistently with the scientific understanding and regulations of the time and that PCBs were widely used by many manufacturers. Courts and juries have reached different conclusions in different cases. Many of these documents are now public and have been used by researchers, journalists, and historians studying corporate conduct and chemical regulation.

PCBs in Schools and Ongoing Litigation

PCBs remain in many older buildings, including schools built between the 1950s and 1970s, in caulk, paint, and fluorescent light ballasts that can leak as they age. The EPA has issued guidance for schools on identifying and reducing PCB exposure, such as replacing old light fixtures.

A series of lawsuits involved the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington, where teachers, students, and parents alleged that PCBs from aging fixtures and building materials made them ill. Juries returned large verdicts against Monsanto in several trials, some later reduced or overturned. Insurance Journal reported in October 2025 that Washington’s Supreme Court reversed a lower court and reinstated a $185 million verdict won by three teachers, ruling that Missouri law, where Monsanto made key decisions about PCBs, should apply. Bayer said it believed the ruling was incorrect and has argued that plaintiffs did not prove PCBs caused their injuries and that levels at the school were deemed safe by the EPA. Bayer had announced settlements of most other Sky Valley claims earlier that year.

States and cities have also sued over PCB contamination of waterways and natural resources. Washington State settled with Monsanto for $95 million in 2020, and Oregon reached a settlement of about $698 million in 2022, among others, and in 2020 Bayer proposed a class settlement to resolve PCB water-contamination claims brought by many local governments.

Case or action	Year	Outcome
Anniston residents (state and federal suits)	2003	About $700 million settlement, cleanup, health clinic
Washington State natural resources	2020	$95 million settlement
Oregon	2022	About $698 million settlement
Sky Valley teachers (Washington)	2021 verdict; 2025 ruling	$185 million verdict reinstated by state Supreme Court

Sauget, Illinois

Anniston was not Monsanto’s only PCB production site. The company also manufactured PCBs at its W.G. Krummrich plant in Sauget, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, until 1977, when it ended PCB production ahead of the federal ban. Industrial waste from Sauget-area facilities contaminated soil, groundwater, and waterways, and the area includes multiple Superfund sites that have required decades of investigation and cleanup involving Monsanto’s successor companies and other industries. Sauget has received less public attention than Anniston, partly because fewer residents lived near the plant, but it illustrates the scale of the PCB legacy.

A Tangled Corporate History

Understanding who is responsible for PCB contamination today requires following a series of corporate changes. In 1997, Monsanto spun off most of its chemical business, including the former PCB operations, as a separate company called Solutia. In 2000, Monsanto merged with Pharmacia & Upjohn, and the combined company, Pharmacia, later spun off the agricultural business as a new company that kept the Monsanto name. Pfizer acquired Pharmacia in 2003. Solutia went through bankruptcy and was later acquired by Eastman Chemical in 2012. Bayer acquired the agricultural Monsanto in 2018. Agreements among these companies allocate responsibility for legacy PCB liabilities, which is why Bayer now defends many PCB lawsuits even though the agricultural Monsanto it bought was created decades after PCB production ended.

Communities and Environmental Justice

The neighborhoods most affected in Anniston were largely working-class and Black, situated near the plant and its waste sites. Residents organized to demand accountability; local activists, including David Baker, founded community groups that pushed for testing, health studies, and cleanup, and their efforts contributed to the lawsuits and the eventual settlement. The Anniston case is often cited in discussions of environmental justice, the principle that no community should bear a disproportionate share of environmental harms, and it helped shape later advocacy for communities near industrial pollution sources.

Agent Orange

Monsanto was one of several companies, along with Dow Chemical and others, that manufactured Agent Orange, a herbicide mixture sprayed by the U.S. military over forests and crops in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1962 to 1971. Agent Orange was contaminated with TCDD, the most toxic form of dioxin, a byproduct of manufacturing one of its components. U.S. veterans sued the manufacturers, leading in 1984 to a settlement of about $180 million, one of the largest of its time. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs now presumes that a range of diseases, including several cancers, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and ischemic heart disease, are connected to Agent Orange exposure for eligible veterans. In Vietnam, contamination at former military sites has required large cleanup efforts supported by the United States, and Vietnamese groups have long sought compensation for people they believe were affected.

Cleaning Up Agent Orange in Vietnam

Decades after the war, dioxin contamination remained concentrated at former U.S. air bases in Vietnam where Agent Orange was stored and handled. The United States and Vietnam cooperated on cleanup at Da Nang airport, where a project using heat to destroy dioxin in contaminated soil and sediment was completed in 2018. A larger, longer project began at Bien Hoa air base, considered the most contaminated site. These efforts, funded largely by the U.S. government, marked a significant step in addressing the war’s environmental legacy, while health and disability support for affected Vietnamese communities remains an ongoing issue.

What Bayer and Monsanto Say

In PCB litigation, Monsanto and Bayer have argued that PCBs were legal, widely used, and sold to industrial customers who were responsible for how they were used and disposed of; that the company stopped production before the federal ban; and that plaintiffs in many cases have not shown exposure at levels that could cause their illnesses. Bayer has sought to recover costs from former customers and has settled many claims to limit legal uncertainty, while continuing to contest others. Understanding both sides helps explain why outcomes have varied, with some juries awarding large verdicts and some appellate courts reducing or overturning them.

The Photographic Record

Photographers and journalists have documented these legacies in places such as Anniston, where residents lived beside contaminated creeks and buried waste; Sauget, Illinois, where Monsanto also produced PCBs; and Vietnam, where families live with the aftermath of wartime spraying. Such work has helped bring public attention to communities that bore the costs of industrial pollution, many of them low-income and communities of color. The documentary record, alongside court documents and scientific studies, provides a basis for understanding these events that does not depend on speculation.

What It Means Today

For most people, PCB exposure today comes mainly from food, particularly fatty fish from contaminated waters, and from older buildings and equipment. Practical steps include following state fish consumption advisories, especially for children and people who are or may become pregnant; trimming fat and skin from fish, which can reduce PCB levels; and, for schools and older buildings, replacing old fluorescent light ballasts and addressing PCB-containing caulk under EPA guidance. Communities near former PCB production or disposal sites can consult state health departments and the EPA about cleanup status and local advisories.

The PCB story is also frequently cited in debates about chemical regulation, illustrating how persistent chemicals can cause problems long after they are introduced and how difficult and costly cleanup can be. It is often raised in discussions of newer persistent chemicals, such as PFAS.

A Global Pollutant

PCBs were produced by several companies worldwide, and an estimated million metric tons or more were manufactured globally before production ended. Because they travel long distances through air and water and accumulate in fatty tissue, PCBs are found even in remote regions such as the Arctic, where they build up in marine mammals and in people who rely on traditional diets of fish and seal. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, adopted in 2001, requires participating countries to eliminate the use of PCBs in equipment by 2025 and to manage PCB wastes in an environmentally sound way by 2028. Many countries have struggled to meet these goals, and large amounts of PCB-containing equipment and waste remain.

Reducing Your Exposure

Follow fish advisories. State and local agencies publish advisories for lakes and rivers with PCB contamination, often with stricter limits for children and people who are pregnant or may become pregnant.

Prepare fish to reduce PCBs. Because PCBs concentrate in fat, removing skin and visible fat and cooking fish so fat drains away can lower intake.

Check older buildings. Schools and buildings constructed between roughly 1950 and 1979 may contain PCBs in caulk, paint, and light ballasts. Building owners can follow EPA guidance for testing and removal.

Handle old electrical equipment carefully. Leaking transformers, capacitors, or ballasts from the PCB era should be handled by professionals.

Key Terms

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls): A group of 209 industrial chemicals once used in electrical equipment and building materials.

Persistent organic pollutant: A chemical that resists breakdown, accumulates in organisms, and travels long distances.

Superfund: The federal program for cleaning up the nation’s most contaminated sites.

Solutia: The chemical company spun off from Monsanto in 1997 that inherited much of the PCB business.

Dioxin (TCDD): A highly toxic contaminant found in Agent Orange.

The Bottom Line

Monsanto’s PCB legacy is one of the best-documented chapters in the history of industrial pollution. Decades of PCB production in Anniston, Alabama, and Sauget, Illinois, contaminated communities and waterways, leading to a $700 million settlement in Anniston in 2003, Superfund cleanups, and continuing lawsuits, including a $185 million verdict over PCBs in a Washington school reinstated in 2025. PCBs are classified as carcinogenic to humans, and studies in Anniston found associations with diabetes and high blood pressure. Today, exposure comes mainly from contaminated fish and older buildings, and following advisories and addressing PCBs in schools can reduce risk.

Common Misconceptions

“PCBs are no longer a problem.” Production ended decades ago, but PCBs persist in the environment, older buildings, and food chains.

“Bayer made PCBs.” PCBs were made by the original Monsanto; Bayer inherited liabilities when it acquired the later agricultural Monsanto in 2018.

“Only Monsanto made PCBs.” Monsanto was the main U.S. producer, but other companies made PCBs abroad.

“All exposure is dangerous.” Nearly everyone has low levels of PCBs; risks depend on the amount and duration of exposure.

Further Reading

The EPA’s PCB pages explain regulations, health effects, and guidance for schools and buildings. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry publishes a detailed toxicological profile of PCBs and information on the Anniston community. State health departments issue fish advisories. Court records, news archives, and historical studies document the history of PCB production and litigation.

Regulatory History

Concern about PCBs grew in the late 1960s after a Swedish scientist identified them in wildlife and after a mass poisoning in Japan in 1968, when rice bran oil contaminated with PCBs and related compounds sickened thousands of people, an event known as Yusho. In the United States, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 specifically addressed PCBs, leading to the 1979 manufacturing ban and rules on use, labeling, and disposal. Some PCB-containing equipment, such as certain transformers in closed systems, was allowed to remain in service under regulation. The FDA set limits for PCBs in foods, including a tolerance of 2 parts per million in the edible portion of fish and shellfish. Internationally, the 2001 Stockholm Convention set global goals for phasing out remaining PCB uses.

Key Facts at a Glance

Monsanto produced PCBs at Anniston, Alabama, from 1935 until 1971, after acquiring the plant from Swann Chemical, and at Sauget, Illinois, until 1977. U.S. manufacture of PCBs was banned in 1979. In 2003, Monsanto and Solutia agreed to a settlement worth about $700 million with roughly 20,000 Anniston residents. IARC classified PCBs as carcinogenic to humans in 2013. Anniston studies found higher blood PCB levels associated with about 2.8 times the odds of diabetes and with higher blood pressure. In October 2025, Washington’s Supreme Court reinstated a $185 million verdict over PCBs at a school.

PCBs and Wildlife

PCBs also threaten wildlife, especially long-lived predators at the top of food chains. A 2018 study in Science by Jean-Pierre Desforges and colleagues used global data on PCB concentrations in killer whale tissues and modeled effects on reproduction and immune function, predicting that PCBs threaten the long-term viability of more than half of the world’s killer whale populations, particularly those near industrialized regions and those feeding at high trophic levels. Seals, polar bears, and birds of prey have also shown PCB-related effects. These findings underline how persistent chemicals produced decades ago continue to affect ecosystems.

Lessons From PCB Poisoning Incidents

Two mass poisonings in Asia provided early evidence of PCB toxicity in people. In Japan in 1968 and Taiwan in 1979, cooking oil contaminated with PCBs and related compounds sickened thousands of people, causing severe acne-like skin lesions called chloracne, eye discharge, fatigue, and other symptoms. Children born to exposed mothers showed skin discoloration, lower birth weight, and developmental delays. Long-term follow-up of these groups has informed understanding of PCB health effects, though the exposures included other related compounds, such as polychlorinated dibenzofurans, that are more toxic than PCBs alone.

The Bottom Line on Responsibility

Responsibility for PCB contamination has been addressed through settlements, verdicts, and cleanup orders over more than two decades, but questions remain about how to pay for remaining cleanup in waterways and buildings, how to compensate affected communities fairly, and how to prevent similar problems with newer persistent chemicals. Court decisions in the coming years, including appeals in remaining Sky Valley cases and other PCB lawsuits, will continue to shape how these questions are answered.

For residents of affected communities, local health departments, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the EPA’s Superfund program provide information on site cleanup status, health studies, and steps to reduce exposure, and residents can request information about specific sites through these agencies.

Why the PCB Story Still Matters

The PCB legacy informs current debates about persistent chemicals such as PFAS, sometimes called “forever chemicals.” Like PCBs, many PFAS resist breakdown, accumulate in people and wildlife, and were used widely before their risks were well understood, and litigation over PFAS contamination has drawn comparisons to PCB cases. Lessons from PCBs include the value of early testing, transparent disclosure of internal research, and planning for long-term cleanup costs.

For readers following the PCB story, the most reliable sources are court records, EPA site documents, and peer-reviewed research, which together provide a clearer picture than summaries on social media.

Readers can also follow updates on PCB-related legislation and settlements through state attorney general offices, which have led many of the natural resource lawsuits against Monsanto, including cases brought by Washington, Oregon, and several other states over contaminated rivers, bays, and fish.

Did PCB Exposure Cause Liver Disease in Anniston?

Research suggests it may have contributed. A 2018 study in Toxicological Sciences by Heather Clair and colleagues used blood samples from 738 participants in the Anniston Community Health Survey, a federally supported study of residents living near the former PCB plant. Using a blood marker of liver cell damage, the researchers classified 60.2 percent of participants as having liver disease, and most of those cases fit the pattern of toxicant-associated steatohepatitis, a fatty liver inflammation linked to chemical exposures. This form of liver disease was associated with higher levels of specific PCB compounds, insulin resistance, abnormal blood fats, and inflammatory markers. Because the study measured exposure and disease at the same time, it cannot prove PCBs caused the liver damage, but the findings are consistent with animal research showing PCBs can drive fatty liver disease.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened with Monsanto and PCBs in Anniston?

For much of the 20th century, a Monsanto plant in Anniston, Alabama, manufactured PCBs and discharged the toxic chemicals into the surrounding air, soil, and streams, heavily contaminating a largely Black, working-class community. Internal documents later revealed the company knew about the contamination and health risks for years. Lawsuits in the early 2000s led to settlements totaling roughly $700 million.

What are PCBs and why are they dangerous?

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are man-made industrial chemicals once used in electrical equipment, paints, and sealants. They are extremely persistent, building up in the environment and the body over decades, and are classified as probable human carcinogens. PCBs are also linked to immune, reproductive, and developmental harm, which is why the United States banned them in 1979.

Did Monsanto know PCBs were harmful?

Internal company documents revealed in litigation showed that Monsanto was aware of PCB toxicity and of contamination around its Anniston plant for years while continuing to produce and discharge the chemicals. These revelations were central to lawsuits brought by residents and contributed to large settlements, and they remain a frequently cited example of corporate concealment of environmental and health hazards.

How much did residents receive in settlements?

In the early 2000s, Monsanto and related companies agreed to settlements of roughly $700 million to resolve claims from thousands of Anniston residents affected by PCB contamination. The money funded compensation, health care, and cleanup. While significant, many residents and advocates argued it did not fully address the long-term health and environmental damage the community suffered.

Is PCB contamination still a problem today?

Yes. Because PCBs persist for decades, contamination remains in soil, sediment, and some old buildings long after production stopped, and cleanup at sites like Anniston continues under Superfund oversight. PCBs still turn up in fish, waterways, and aging electrical equipment and building materials, so exposure and remediation remain ongoing concerns in many communities, not just Anniston.

References

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn about Polychlorinated Biphenyls. epa.gov
2. Lauby-Secretan B, Loomis D, Grosse Y, et al. Carcinogenicity of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated biphenyls. Lancet Oncology. 2013;14(4):287–288. PMID 23499544
3. Silverstone AE, Rosenbaum PF, Weinstock RS, et al. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure and diabetes: results from the Anniston Community Health Survey. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2012;120(5):727–732. PMID 22334129
4. Goncharov A, Pavuk M, Foushee HR, Carpenter DO. Blood pressure in relation to concentrations of PCB congeners and chlorinated pesticides. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2011;119(3):319–325. PMID 21362590
5. Grist. Alabama PCB Suits End in $700 Million Settlement. 2003. grist.org
6. Beasley Allen. $700 million settlement reached in Alabama PCB case. beasleyallen.com
7. Insurance Journal. Washington Supreme Court Restores $185M Monsanto Chemical Leak Verdict. October 30, 2025. insurancejournal.com
8. Jacobson JL, Jacobson SW. Intellectual impairment in children exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls in utero. New England Journal of Medicine. 1996;335(11):783–789. PMID 8703183
9. Desforges JP, Hall A, McConnell B, et al. Predicting global killer whale population collapse from PCB pollution. Science. 2018;361(6409):1373–1376. PMID 30262502
10. Clair HB, Pinkston CM, Rai SN, et al. Liver disease in a residential cohort with elevated polychlorinated biphenyl exposures. Toxicological Sciences. 2018;164(1):39–49. PMID 29684222

Last updated: October 6, 2026