Document mmy3yrKe77eQnwjRara96LjyZ

JAMESTOWN, N n SUN w' 0. ItOOQ OQT 61978 Monsanto To Halt PCB Production ST. LOUIS (AP) Mon santo Industrial Chemicals . *CoT will halt production of PCB insulating fluids nest year because of the public's fear of adverse effects from the chemical. ` Monsanto will withdraw completely from the market no later than Oct. 31,1077, said Earle H. Harbisoo Jr., general manager of the firm's specialty chemicals division. . Harbiaon said Tuesday the target date would have bean J sooner, but electrical trails* former and capacitor manufacturers have said they would be unable to convert to other materials any 'earlier. Monsanto is the only menufacturer of PCB (poly chlorinated biphenyl), a stable, fire-resistant chemical. ` The Environmsntal Protac tion Agency has found that ' PCBs build up In the environ- ment and are thought to csum reproductive failures, gastric . disorders and akin lesions In , mammals. . About 300 million pounds of the virtually indestructible chemical have been dumped into landfills, leaked into water supplies and allowed to sift Into production sites. EPA Administrator RusaeU E. Train praised Monsanto's decision, terming It ua signifi cant step In dealing with the total problem of PCB con taintnatloo." * But he noted that PCBs al ready In the environment "will be there for years, moving into life systems, including humans. The problems stiU need to be addressed vigorously by gov ernment and industry." Monsanto had earlier quit malting PCBs for use in car bonless copy paper, fire resistant hydraulic fluids, heat transfer fluid aod piasticlxafs. . The chemical is manufac tured at a Monsanto plant in Sauget, 01. Twenty jobs will be eliminated by the decision to withdraw from (he TCB market, but a company spokesman said employea working In those positions would be shifted to other work at the plant. ^