Document OrMkO1LB7pmgVaL6YGg09qeK

Message From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: PEIRCE, BOB [AG/1000] [/0=MONSANTO/OU=NA-1000-01/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=819117] 9/30/2009 2:24:10 PM HELSCHER, THOMAS M [AG/1000] [thomas.m.helscher@monsanto.com]; COMBEST, JOHN C [AG/1000] Oohn.c.combest@monsanto.com]; KASPER, GARRETT D [AG/1000] [garrett.d.kasper@monsanto.com]; AIRASCA, SANTIAGO [AG-Contractor/1000] [santiago.airasca@monsanto.com] Final statement on PCB removal from caulk in schools PCBs response to EPA clean-up of caulk in schools FINAL Sept 29 09.doc All -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued guidelines calling on schools to remove caulk containing PCBs in school buildings built from 1950 to 1978. The recommendation includes monitoring the air inside schools for PCB levels. The EPA news release includes a specific list of diseases caused by exposure to PCBs. Monsanto was the sole manufacturer in the U.S. of PCBs until the material's ban by the federal government in the late 1970's. PCB exposure, of course, was an issue in the Anniston lawsuits and in a current series of lawsuits on the East Side in Illinois (featured recently in both the Post-Dispatch and the Belleville News Democrat. ) Monsanto was the subject of a lawsuit in the state of New York seeking money to reimburse a school district for removing this caulk. I believe this has been settled. Here is a legally approved statement on the caulk issue, which was featured yesterday in an Associated Press article published in the Wall Street Journal. The Monsanto manufacturing involvement was not mentioned and may not have been known. I am forwarding the statement (and will put it in the database), so that we are prepared should we get media questions on the issue (which usually happens two hours before deadline.) This is the kind of issue that could be localized anywhere there is a school system managing this issue. Bob Bob Peirce Public Affairs Monsanto Company 314-694-3238 office 314-520-3530 mobile EX P-3558 Page 1 of 2 SVEC OLDMONS0572973 FINAL September 29, 2009 Media Statement: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Program To Remediate PCB-containing Caulk The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it is prudent to reduce exposure to PCB-containing caulk in school buildings built or renovated between 1950 and 1978. They said they are recommending practical, common-sense steps to reduce exposure while the understanding of the science improves. We support this common sense approach. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were widely used for decades as safety fluids to insulate and cool heavy-duty electrical equipment. They also conveyed flexibility and fire resistance to various plastics, which is why they were used as a component of some caulks. We stopped manufacturing PCBs in the 1970's before the federal government phased out their use. PCBs have not been manufactured in the U.S. for more than 30 years. Scientific studies have been undertaken for more than three decades on the health issues involving PCBs. They are continuing today. There is no scientific consensus on the health effects. The weight of scientific evidence does not support any causal link between exposure to PCBs and cancer or other significant human illnesses. oOo EX P-3558 Page 2 of 2 SVEC OLDMONS0572974