EPA Proposes to Ban Last Form of Asbestos Used in U.S.

By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) — A proposed rule to ban ongoing makes use of of the one recognized type of asbestos imported into the United States has been launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The ban would apply to chrysotile asbestos, which is thought to trigger most cancers and is present in merchandise like asbestos diaphragms, sheet gaskets, brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes/linings, different car friction merchandise, and different gaskets imported into the United States

The proposed rule would rectify a 1991 courtroom determination that largely overturned the EPA’s 1989 ban on asbestos and considerably weakened the company’s authority to cut back dangers to human well being from asbestos or different present chemical substances, the EPA mentioned.

“Today, we’re taking an essential step ahead to guard public well being and at last put an finish to the usage of harmful asbestos within the United States,” EPA administrator Michael Regan mentioned in an company information launch. “This historic proposed ban would defend the American folks from publicity to chrysotile asbestos, a recognized carcinogen.”

Asbestos is banned in additional than 50 international locations and its use within the United States has been declining for years. Most client merchandise that traditionally contained chrysotile asbestos have been discontinued within the United States, and uncooked chrysotile asbestos presently imported into the United States is used solely by the chlor-alkali chemical trade.

Chlor-alkali chemical substances are utilized in plenty of sectors of the U.S. economic system and in ingesting water therapy, which makes use of chlorine manufactured by means of the chlor-alkali course of.

There are options to asbestos-containing diaphragms for chlor-alkali vegetation. The use of options, particularly membrane cells, accounts for nearly half of the nation’s chlor-alkali manufacturing, in keeping with the EPA.

The company can be evaluating different varieties and makes use of of asbestos, together with its use in talc and talc-containing merchandise.

More data

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has way more on asbestos.

SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, information launch, April 5, 2022