Bayer will pay $857 million over the harmful effects of its chemicals on US schoolchildren

Yesterday, December 18, Washington State Supreme Court in Seattle decidedthat the pharmaceutical company Bayer must pay $857 million to several former schoolchildren and their parents for the harmful health effects of chemicals it produces. We are talking about the fact that in one of the schools in the city of Monroe, there was a leak of chemicals – the so-called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), used in lamps. These substances were produced by Monsanto, later acquired by Bayer.

According to the plaintiffs, including five former students and two parents, PCBs had a negative impact on the health of several schoolchildren, meaning they were unsafe, which Monsanto did not disclose. In particular, the plaintiffs claim problems with the endocrine and nervous systems of schoolchildren who studied at this school from 7 to 18 years ago. The court ruled that Bayer must pay compensation to the plaintiffs in the amount of $73 million, as well as pay a fine of $784 million.

PCBs have been actively used for many years in electrical equipment and in the production of other goods; the negative impact of the substance on health was not immediately known. Monsanto stopped using them in 1977, and in 1979 such use was banned altogether in the United States. The company said it considers this amount excessive and plans to appeal the decision. In addition, the company notes that it has repeatedly warned schools about the need to replace outdated lamps.

In recent years, Bayer has constantly faces with lawsuits over the herbicide Roundup, which was also made by Monsanto and which plaintiffs say caused cancer in some cases.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya