"Although the Bhopal disaster is often held up as the worst example of the chemical industry’s disregard for human life, Dow’s products have a terrifying tendency to cause massive health problems and birth defects even when used as intended. Products that cause these defects can cause suffering generations after the initial exposure. For example, the defoliant Agent Orange continues to plague American and Vietnamese civilians and soldiers exposed to it during the Vietnam War. Dow also produced the now banned pesticide DDT, which is linked to human cancer and resulted in egg shell thinning among birds, nearly wiping out many species of American birds including the Bald Eagle. DCBP (Nemagon), Dursban, Dioxin, and Vinyl Chloride are just a few more of Dow’s products that have caused, and continue to cause, health and other environmental problems for people the world over. The scope of the contamination Dow has achieved is as staggering as the number of chemicals it has contributed—Dow has contaminated areas as diverse and far flung as Bhopal, India; Colombo, Sri Lanka; New Plymouth, New Zealand; Plaquemine, Louisiana; Seadrift, Texas; Uravan, Colorado; and finally, Dow has so thoroughly contaminated the area surrounding its headquarters in Midland, Michigan that residents are advised not to come into contact with the soil around their homes. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of Dow’s hazardous products and contaminations, it paints an undeniable picture of a company that is simply not concerned with human safety or the environment."

Quoting CoopAmerica http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=217

"A Los Angeles jury ruled in favor of a group of fruit growers in the first of five trials pitting thousands of Central Americans against the fruit giant Dole and pesticide manufacturer Dow Chemical. Although the jury did not find that all the defendants had been sufficiently injured by the companies to warrant compensation, in the case of 6 workers the jury felt that Dole and Dow had caused them grievous harm. Specifically, the workers were exposed by Dole to the pesticide Nemagon (DCPB), which among other toxic side effects can cause sterility. While Dole was found to bear the majority of the blame for exposing the workers, Dow, the manufacturer of the chemical, was found to have concealed and “actively suppressed” information regarding the pesticide’s reproductive toxicity. The workers won a total award of $3.3 million dollars, and the companies still face legal challenges from more than 5,000 other workers who claim that they were sterilized by exposure to Nemagon."

Quoting CoopAmerica http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=217