July 13, 2023
Vermont Lawsuit Illuminates Past PCB Use in Fluorescent Ballasts
PCBs in fluorescent lighting fixtures and other electrical products at the center of state's legal action against Monsanto
The term PCBs, which commonly refers to printed circuit boards in modern digital lighting and control products, meant something else in a lighting context decades ago. PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls, a type of compound, were extensively used in electrical equipment including fluorescent ballasts prior to 1980.
A striking legal case is unfolding in Vermont where the state has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto, the chemical company now owned by Bayer, for the contamination of school buildings with PCBs. In a lawsuit that the state filed in June, it explains that “numerous Vermont schools have tested at high levels of concern for PCB contamination, and the State is incurring millions of dollars in current statewide testing of all schools (over 300 schools).”
The lawsuit seems to take inspiration from an earlier case in Washington state. In 2021, three schoolteachers from the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington, were awarded $185 million after suing Monsanto for exposure to PCBs from fluorescent lights. The teachers claimed that they had suffered brain damage due to the exposure.
The Vermont lawsuit alleges that PCBs have a potential presence in various school building materials and electrical equipment, particularly those renovated or built before 1980. PCBs were typically found in materials such as caulk, paints, and significantly, fluorescent light ballasts, underlining the potential risks lurking in the past lighting fixtures sold to Vermont public schools.
The state alleges that exposure to PCBs, considered harmful chemicals, can happen unknowingly in schools, affecting both students and staff. The exposure can occur via inhalation of PCB-containing dust or vapors, accidental ingestion when eating or drinking with PCB-contaminated hands, and direct skin contact with materials containing PCBs.
PCBs are a group of synthetic organic chemical compounds, appreciated for their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point, and electrical insulating properties. These traits made them ideal for use in coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment.
Because of their environmental toxicity and classification as a persistent pollutant, production of PCBs was banned by the United States in 1979 and by a global treaty in 2001. However, they still persist in the environment due to their chemical stability and resistance to degradation.
This evolving Vermont lawsuit serves as a reminder of the crucial intersection of industry innovation, environmental safety and human health – and that the impacts of those factors can extend decades into the future.
