A $90 billion dollar False Claims Act lawsuit filed against BASF Corporation, BayerMaterial Science LLC, Dow Chemical Company and Huntsman International LLC.
The allegations arose claiming these companies failed to disclose information to the Environmental Protection Agency about the dangers of certain isocyanate chemicals.
According to the lawsuit seen by EcoWatch, "Each of these companies is separately liable to the United States Government for billions of dollars in civil reporting penalties, which continue to accumulate by tens of thousands of dollars daily, and for billions of dollars in similarly increasing breach of contract damages."
Specifically, the complaint references to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), polymeric MDI (PMDI), and toluene diisocyanate (TDI), manufactures use this class of chemicals to produce a range of products including coatings, adhesives and flexible foam.
Exposure to isocyanate can irritate the skin and mucous membranes, cause chest tightness and difficult breathing. Isocyanates also include compounds classified as potential human carcinogens and is known to cause cancer in animals.
As alleged in the complaint, the defendants, the isocyanate industry and the EPA have long known that inhalation of isocyanates, including MDI, PMDI and TDI, can cause harm to human health.
"Between at least 1979 and 2003, each defendant obtained and developed discrete and separate items of scientific and medical information that TDI, MDI and PMDI can cause and had caused permanent respiratory injury in humans when inhaled at levels below applicable inhalation exposure limits (low-level inhalation)," the lawsuit states.
As a result of the whistleblower law, these companies can he held accountable for their actions.
