Lexington has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages on behalf of itself and other Massachusetts school districts affected by potentially harmful levels of chemicals known as PCBs.

The suit, against Pharmacia Corp., Solutia Inc., and Monsanto Co., claims the makers of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, knew or should have known of the public health and environmental dangers posed by use of the chemicals in the construction of schools from the 1950s through the 1970s and failed to provide adequate warnings.