Monsanto, PCBs, and the creation of a "world-wide ecological problem".

For the past three decades, we have written on the history of occupational and environmental health, authoring books and articles on lead poisoning, silicosis, asbestosis, and angiosarcoma of the liver, among other diseases. One book, Deceit and Denial, focused specifically on the chemical and lead industries. Because of the rarity of historians who study this history, we have been asked to testify on behalf of workers who allege harm from these industrial materials and by state, county, and local governments who seek redress for environmental damages and funds to prevent future harm to children. In about 2010, we began testifying in law suits brought by individuals who claimed that they had suffered from cancers, specifically non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, because of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in their bodies. At that time, we wrote a Report to the Court about industry knowledge of the dangers of PCBs to workers and the environment. More recently, we have been approached by attorneys representing government agencies on the West Coast of the United States which are seeking funds to abate PCB pollution in their ports, bays, and waterways. The focus of these lawsuits is the Monsanto Corporation, the sole producer of PCBs in the United States from the 1930s through 1977. Through these law suits, an enormous trove of previously private Monsanto reports, papers, memos, letters, and studies have been made available to us and this paper is the result of our examination of these hundreds of thousands of pages. The documents from this collection (with the exception of privileged materials that Monsanto has not made public, and upon which we have not relied) are available on www.ToxicDocs.org , the website we have developed with Professor Merlin Chowkwanyun of Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. (Almost all of the references that are from this collection can be accessed by readers by clicking on the reference hyperlink.) This monograph is adapted from a report to the court that was originally produced for litigation on behalf of plaintiffs in PCB lawsuits. We are grateful to the Journal of Public Health Policy for publishing this detailed examination of these documents and we hope it will stimulate further research into this important, and now public, archive of industry records.

Máquinas y arte-sanos / Machines and artisanal health workers

RESUMEN Este trabajo discute los modelos dominantes y las tensiones, al interior del campo de la salud, entre la concepción del cuerpo humano (máquina); el proceso de trabajo médico (modelos industriales o artesanales); las institucionalidades (hospitales y centros de salud) y los principales agentes (corporación médica y complejo médico industrial). El análisis se contextualiza en EEUU desde fines del siglo XIX a la actualidad. Se discuten dimensiones económico-políticas, ideológico-culturales y científico-técnicas, que atraviesan la historicidad del campo. El propósito es elucidar cómo se viene transformando el campo de la salud, y qué peso tiene la razón instrumental y el capital financiero en ese proceso, en detrimento de lo relacional.

ABSTRACT This work discusses the dominant models and tensions within the health field regarding the conceptualization of the human body (as a machine), the process of health work (industrial and artisanal models), institutions (hospitals and health centers) and primary agents (the medical corporation and the medical industrial complex). The context of analysis is the United States from the end of the 19th century to the present. Economic-political, ideological-cultural, and scientific-technical dimensions are discussed, which permeate the historicity of the field. The purpose is to illustrate how the health field has transformed over time, as well as the role instrumental reason and financial capital has played in this process, to the detriment of relational aspects.

[Asbestos at the time of the First World War]. / [L'amianto al tempo della Grande Guerra].

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th numerous asbestos industries began operations in various parts of the world. At the time of the First World War there is ample evidence of the use of this mineral in shipbuilding, the aircraft industry and in the construction industry. In the years 1912-17 the writer Franz Kafka was co-proprietor of a small asbestos factory in Prague. Some of the writer's novels and journal pages were inspired by this experience. In this way asbestos entered into the history of 20th century European literature. In 1917 asbestos extraction was started at the quarry in Balangero, near Turin, Italy. Risks related to the use of asbestos were known at the beginning of the 20th century and legislation aimed at preventing the harmful effects of the mineral were approved in Italy.

On Corporate Accountability: Lead, Asbestos, and Fossil Fuel Lawsuits.

This paper examines the use of lawsuits against three industries that were eventually found to be selling products damaging to human heath and the environment: lead paint, asbestos, and fossil fuels. These industries are similar in that some companies tried to hide or distort information showing their products were harmful. Common law claims were eventually filed to hold the corporations accountable and compensate the injured. This paper considers the important role the lawsuits played in helping establish some accountability for the industries while also noting the limitations of the lawsuits. It will be argued that the lawsuits helped create pressure for government regulation of the industries' products but were less successful at securing compensation for the injured. Thus, the common law claims strengthened and supported administrative regulation and the adoption of industry alternatives more than they provided a means of legal redress.

[Industrial first aid equipment: a historical analysis (1840-1914) ]. / Gli strumenti di pronto soccorso in azienda: un'analisi storica (1840-1914).

Even if references to the tools required to intervene after an accident can be found in the works of Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714) or Johann Peter Frank (1745-1821), it was only with the development of industrial manufacturing that the need to study means to prevent and intervene in cases of accident became evident. In October 1894 the III Congrés International des Accidents du Travail et des Assurances Sociales was held in Milan. The following year, the Milanese trade union movement acknowledged the necessity to address the problem of industrial accidents. In 1896 the Association for Medical Assistance in  Industrial Accidents was founded in Milan. A specific medical institute was set up, appropriate first aid tools were collected and first aid rooms in the main Milanese factories were inaugurated. Nevertheless, few data seem to be available regarding the manufacture and use of this equipment in industry. We analyzed more than fifty catalogs of European industrial products, between 1843 and 1914, to study the evolution of first aid equipment for industrial use. They reflect and attest to the evolution of medicine and surgery, although some models seem to be related to certain industrial categories (railways, electrical appliances), some were similar to ordinary first aid boxes, others were strictly related to surgery; some could only be used by physicians, and others only by workers. Identification, conservation, and reappraisal of these tools is essential for historians of occupational health because these objects were normally not preserved. The catalogues of industrial production are also precious sources, since they are rarely preserved in public libraries and deserve to be used for historical studies.

[Remedy for shortage or risk for national security? The search for oil in Switzerland]. / Lösung für das Knappheitsproblem oder nationales Risiko? Auf Erdölsuche in der Schweiz.

Over several decades, geologists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and public authorities dealt with a potential petroleum occurrence in Switzerland. They provided scientific expertise, granted concessions, invested capital and sank bore holes. Although the endeavour was never successful economically, it reveals how closely related geopolitical situations and the exploitation of natural resources were. This article investigates the search for crude oil in Switzerland from the 1930s until the 1960s, combining a history of science and technology perspective with a history of the political regulations and economic considerations concerning the extractive industry. It traces the changing fears and hopes about potential oil occurrences in Switzerland: From an investment to overcome future shortages, to the risk of imperial desires if oil would be found in abundance.

[Asbestos in pre-industrial times: from natural wonder to subject of scientific investigation]. / L'amianto in epoca preindustriale: da meraviglia della natura ad oggetto di approfondimento scientifico.

The author proposes a reading of "Concerning incombustible flax or asbestos stone" which was published in 1696 by Giovanni Giustino Ciampini, who was a historian, a man of the church and scientist in Rome. The text, which was originally written in Latin, is an excellent and early description of the need felt by the majority of scientists in Europe at that time for a change in method: that is, to use scientific experiments to explain and control the natural phenomena observed and even perhaps mythologized right from antiquity. In the case of asbestos this was necessary to check the veracity and consistency of a series of recommendations handed down by the earliest authors but also to revive and reinvent the techniques that had largely been lost so as to be able to utilize and develop a substance that it was thought could be of great benefit to society. In the presentation of Ciampini's text an attempt is made to recall and contextualize the earliest knowledge on asbestos and follow its evolution over a long historical period, up to the first half of the nineteenth century. It can thus be seen how asbestos, once considered "a wonder of nature", became a raw material widely used in industrial applications. The most significant steps in this phase of transformation were taken thanks to Italian entrepreneurs and technicians and to the presence of asbestos in the Alpine valleys of Italy.

Internal fixation: a historical review.

Internal fixation has become a pillar of surgical specialties, yet the evolution of these devices has been relatively short. The first known description of medical management of a fracture was found in the Edwin Smith Papyrus of Ancient Egypt (circa 2600 bc). The first description of internal fixation in the medical literature was in the 18th century. The advancement of techniques and technology over the last 150 years has helped to preserve both life and function. The pace of advancement continues to accelerate as surgeons continue to seek new technology for osseous fixation. The authors present a thorough review of the history of internal fixation and the transformation into a multibillion dollar industry.

Esme Hadfield (1921-92) and the Wycombe woodworkers.

This paper reflects on the life and work of Esme Hadfield, an otolaryngologist based at Wycombe General Hospital and, in particular, on her discovery of the link between adenocarcinoma of the paranasal sinuses and wood dust exposure from those in the furniture industry. The paper also explores the woodworking industry that forms the backdrop to her discovery.

The perfect machine: Lorenz Böhler's rationalized fracture treatment in World War I.

This essay examines Lorenz Böhler's modernist system of rationalized fracture care as a particular case of medical rationalization and standardization. Böhler's locally created culture of standardized practices is analyzed in the context of its concrete work environment but also situated in relation to aspects of its wider cultural environment. It will be described as part of a more general trend of body-based rationalization efforts in industry and health care, in which the machine metaphor was used to characterize both the body and the work process. The project's origins in World War I will be discussed, as well as its subsequent migration to a civilian setting and its resonance with postwar Viennese modernism, to which it contributed. The essay aims at contributing to a historically informed discussion of medical rationalization and standardization as a heterogeneous, value-laden, and historically contingent phenomenon.

Breve história da ciência moderna: v.4: a belle-époque da ciência (séc. XIX) / Brief history of modern science: v.4: the belle-époque of science (nineteenth century)

O quarto volume da série 'Breve História da Ciência Moderna' trata de um período de grande euforia em relação às conquistas da ciência, sobretudo às ligadas à tecnologia. No século XIX, a eletricidade passou a iluminar as cidades e a acelerar as comunicações; surgiram os motores a explosão que iriam dar origem aos automóveis. O século se defrontou ainda com a teoria da evolução das espécies por seleção natural – que revolucionou não apenas a ciência, mas também o olhar do homem sobre si mesmo. Essa explosão de temas gerou uma onda de otimismo em relação ao futuro. O progresso era inevitável. Os homens e mulheres do século XIX viviam a belle-époque da ciência. Dividida em cinco volumes, esta série trata do conhecimento científico que se desenvolveu num curto período de tempo da história da humanidade – da Idade Média até hoje. Enfatizando o diálogo entre diferentes campos do conhecimento, os autores constroem um painel útil para quem deseja encontrar a porta de entrada dos principais problemas que formam o universo da ciência.

Benzene-induced cancers: abridged history and occupational health impact.

Benzene-induced cancer in humans was first reported in the late 1920s. Carcinogenesis findings in animals were not reported conclusively until 1979. Industry exploited this "discrepancy" to discredit the use of animal bioassays as surrogates for human exposure experience. The cardinal reason for the delay between first recognizing leukemia in humans and sought-after neoplasia in animals centers on poor design and conduct of experimental studies. The first evidence of carcinogenicity in animals manifested as malignant tumors of the zymbal glands (sebaceous glands in the ear canal) of rats, and industry attempted to discount this as being irrelevant to humans, as this organ is vestigial and not present per se in humans. Nonetheless, shortly thereafter benzene was shown to be carcinogenic to multiple organ sites in both sexes of multiple strains and multiple species of laboratory animals exposed via various routes. This paper presents a condensed history of the benzene bioassay story with mention of benzene-associated human cancers.