Toxic Docs Blog

The Evidence is Here.

  • Blog Home
  • Main Site

PFAS: Researchers Have Warned of 'Forever Chemicals' for Years

The EPA recently announced that PFAS are more toxic than once thought, however, researchers have raised concerns about the health consequences of exposure to these ‘forever chemicals’ for years. Today, we are highlighting

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

The Monsanto Monopoly: Price Fixing of Herbicides

In 1984, the Supreme Court found Monsanto in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act because of their “conspiracy to maintain resale prices and terminate price-cutters” of agricultural herbicides. The case was decided after

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Standard of Exposure: Industry Opposition to OSHA

In 1978, John T. Barr of the Law Department for Air Products–an American chemical industry company–drafted a hearing brief on OSHA’s recently proposed regulations and its reach of power. Founded

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Lesson in Greenwashing: Monsanto and their Environmental "Showcase" Project

In the twenty-first century, several companies–most recently Deutsche Bank’s DWS– have come under scrutiny for "greenwashing" or misleading consumers about their environmental impact for the benefit of company image.

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Identifying Reproductive Toxicity: A Clash Between Industry and Government

In November 1996, the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) sent a letter to the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) on “Vinyl Chloride: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity Data Summary.” While evidence linking vinyl chloride and

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Wish for Unions: Documents from the Workers Institute for Safety and Health (WISH)

In honor of International Workers’ Day, we are highlighting documents from the Workers Institute for Safety and Health (WISH) which was established in 1980 to protect workers from occupational hazards. Shortly after the

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Society of the Plastics Industry: 1989 Response to Global Warming

In April 1989, Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) published an article titled “Climate Change Task Force Tackles Global Warming” in their trade association newsletter to address intensifying concerns over global warming. Though

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

The National Lead Company: A Case Study in Industrial Advertising

With news that the EPA will replace lead pipes across the country through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, we are highlighting historic documents that depict how advertising played a role in the growth

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor: A Look Back in Time

The Environmental Protection Agency recently opened a civil rights investigation over pollution and discriminatory practices in Louisiana’s chemical corridor, however, residents have warned of hazardous exposures for decades. Dubbed “cancer alley” by

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Microplastics: Appears in Document Dating Back to 1946

With recent news that microplastics are detected in places ranging from the depths of the ocean to the blood of humans, we are highlighting a 1946 document which contains the term “microplastic” in

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

"Why Asbestos?": Presented by Swetonic of the Asbestos Information Association

Despite the emergence of evidence linking asbestos and lung cancer in the mid-1950s, asbestos remained in consumer products well into the 1970s. The document below highlights how Executive Secretary of the Asbestos Information

  • Helena Brijbasi
2 min read

Industry Response to 1986 FOIA Amendment

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has transformed how the public engages with previously unreleased documents from corporations, government, and other agencies since it was enacted in 1967. While national agencies and organizations

  • Helena Brijbasi
2 min read

Estrogen Mimics: DES, DDT, and Dioxin

In 1994, the Vinyl Institute–a division under the trade association The Society of The Plastics Industry– sent a review on “Estrogen Mimics” to their Executive Board Technical Committee. Concern over estrogen mimics

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Tampering with Evidence: Monsanto, Dioxin, and Public Health

In 1990, newspapers across the country reported on how Monsanto altered studies to obscure the health effects of dioxin. According to an internal federal memo from the EPA, Monsanto manipulated results to deny

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Reproductive Health, Occupational Exposure, and Plastic Monomers

In 1984, the scientific publishing house Springer-Verlag published the article “Health Risks to Female Workers in Occupational Exposure to Chemical Agents” to warn the public about the health effects of exposure to plastic

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

"Counter the Activists:" The Role of One PR Firm in the 'Chlorine Debate'

In 1994, the public relations firm Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin, Inc. sent a document titled “MDB Activist Report for August” to the Chlorine Chemical Council (CCC) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Social Responsibility: An "Undesirable Option" for Monsanto

Monsanto halted their production of PCBs in 1977, however, the issue of PCB waste remained a persistent problem. The document highlighted below is an internal record of recommendations posed to Monsanto following the

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

HFCs: The Alternatives that Were Not Safer

In 1991, the Journal of Air & Waste Management Association published the article “Chlorinated Solvents: Will the Alternatives be Safer?” in which the authors discuss concerns over the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCS) which

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

"Hunt the Dump:" Community Campaign to Combat Toxic Waste

In the early 1980s, the Environmental Action, Inc. and Sierra Club began a campaign to “locate and expose the nation’s unsafe hazardous waste sites.” Check out the document here to learn more

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Lack of Regulations in Cosmetic Industry Could Pose a Threat to Reproductive Health

While reproductive rights have been a focus of national politics, “reproductive toxins” which can cause adverse effects on reproductive systems continue to be left out of this discussion. In a 1988 inter-organization correspondence

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

The Impact of the Radium Girls on Occupational Health Standards

In honor of Labor Day, we are highlighting a document from the 1961 National Safety Congress on Labor Safety. The document discusses the implications of the case of the 'Radium Girls' who sued

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Hurricane of Toxins: How Chemical Companies Respond to Big Storms

In the eye of a hurricane, oil and chemical hubs pose a toxic threat to surrounding communities. When the plants shut down before big storms, they produce an onslaught of toxic pollution which

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Politics of Pesticides: The EPA and Chlorpyrifos

Last week, the EPA announced measures to ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in food production. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide commonly used on crops and animals to kill insects and worms,

  • Helena Brijbasi
1 min read

Confidential Communications: Industry Science Tries to Bury "Silent Spring"

The document we are highlighting today is a letter from the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America to Dr. Robert Kehoe at the University of Cincinnati. The letter is from Jan 29, 1964, and

  • Karuna Vikram
1 min read

Lead was at the Heart of the Ideal Home

In order to advertise their products, Lead Industries Association published a magazine showcasing the properties of lead and its uses in the home. Today, we examine their issue from March, 1939. This issue

  • Karuna Vikram
2 min read
Toxic Docs Blog © 2023
Latest Posts Ghost