In the U.S. from 1929 until the late 1970s, they were manufactured essentially by one corporation — Monsanto. Other manufacturers used these substances in hundreds of commercial products, such as lighting ballasts, caulk and paints. They introduced an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of these toxins into our air, water and soil. Currently, PCBs are widespread…

Before the April 20, 2010, BP oil well blowout that unleashed the largest oil disaster in U.S. history, the 2-½-mile-deep Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico had gotten the reputation among some crew members as “the well from hell.” But just 16 hours before the explosion, an engineer who had been dispatched to help…