Document DDxG5jV7dRGx56QXjymk2pJQd

FOND DU LAC, WIS. REPORTER' D. 22,000 OCT 6 1976 PCB work I to be halted jST. LOUIS (AP) - Monsanto .Industrial Chemicals Co. wiH' jhalt production of PCB In* ulatlnf fhikto *oext year be cause of the public's tear of id- versa effects from the chem ical. 1 1 Monsanto wffl withdraw com pletely from the market bo lat er than Oct 31,1877, said Earle K. Harbisoa Jr., general man ager of the Ann's specialty chemicals division. Harbisoo said IXiesday the target dsje would havta been sooner, but electrical Inns- ( former anf. capacitor manufac turers have said they would be uoable to coOveit to other ml- tetials any earitefh ; 1 Monsanto Is the holy many* ,' facturer of PCB (poly chlorinated biphenyl), s stable, fire-resistant chemical. , , The Environmental Protec tion Agency has found that . PCBs build up in the envtron- ment and are thought to cause . reproductive failures, gastric disorders and skin lesions In mammals. ( About 300 million pounds of the virtually indestructible chemical have been dumped {* into landfills, leaked into water supplies and allowed to lift into production sites, the EPA con , ' Undt. ' / EPA Administrator Russell ' E. Train praised Monsanto's ,, decision, terming It "a slgnlff- cant step in dealing with the to tal problem of PCB con tamination.** But ha noted that PCBi al ready In the environment "will be there for yean, moving into Hte systems, Including humans. The problems still need to be addressed vigorously by gov ernment and Industry." Monsanto had earlier quit making PCBi tor use In car bonless copy paper, fire resistsnt hydraulic fluids, heat trans fer fluid and plasticizers. The chemical Is manufac tured at t Monsanto plant In Sauget, III. Twenty jobs will be eliminated by the decision to withdraw from tho PCB mar ket. but a company spokesman said employe! working lo those positions would bo drifted to . other work at the plant MOMS 030 725