EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted

The Environmental Protection Agency connected Monday announced a broad prohibition connected asbestos, a carcinogen that is inactive utilized successful immoderate chlorine bleach, brake pads and different products and that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.

The last regularisation marks a large enlargement of EPA regularisation nether a landmark 2016 instrumentality that overhauled regulations governing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals successful mundane products, from household cleaners to covering and furniture.

The caller regularisation would prohibition chrysotile asbestos, the lone ongoing usage of asbestos successful the United States. The substance is recovered successful products specified arsenic brake linings and gaskets and is utilized to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, besides known arsenic caustic soda.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the last regularisation a large measurement to support nationalist health.

FILE - Environmental Protection Agency head Michael Regan speaks, Feb. 16, 2024, successful East Palestine, Ohio. The EPA announced Monday, March 18,

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File

"With today's ban, EPA is yet slamming the doorway connected a chemic truthful unsafe that has been banned successful implicit 50 countries,'' Regan said. "This historical prohibition is much than 30 years successful the making, and it's acknowledgment to amendments that Congress made successful 2016 to hole the Toxic Substance Control Act,'' the main U.S. instrumentality governing usage of chemicals.

Exposure to asbestos is known to origin lung cancer, mesothelioma and different cancers, and it is linked to much than 40,000 deaths successful the U.S. each year. Ending the ongoing uses of asbestos advances the goals of President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot, a whole-of-government inaugural to extremity crab successful the U.S., Regan said.

"The subject is clear: Asbestos is simply a known carcinogen that has terrible impacts connected nationalist health. This enactment is conscionable the opening arsenic we enactment to support each American families, workers and communities from toxic chemicals,'' Regan said.

The 2016 instrumentality authorized caller rules for tens of thousands of toxic chemicals recovered successful mundane products, including substances specified arsenic asbestos and trichloroethylene that for decades person been known to origin crab yet were mostly unregulated nether national law. Known arsenic the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, the instrumentality was intended to wide up a hodgepodge of authorities rules governing chemicals and update the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 1976 instrumentality that had remained unchanged for 40 years.

The EPA banned asbestos successful 1989, but the regularisation was mostly overturned by a 1991 tribunal determination that weakened the EPA's authorization nether TSCA to code risks to quality wellness from asbestos oregon different existing chemicals. The 2016 instrumentality required the EPA to measure chemicals and enactment successful spot protections against unreasonable risks.

Asbestos, which was erstwhile communal successful location insulation and different products, is banned successful much than 50 countries, and its usage successful the U.S. has been declining for decades. The lone signifier of asbestos known to beryllium presently imported, processed oregon distributed for usage successful the U.S. is chrysotile asbestos, which is imported chiefly from Brazil and Russia. It is utilized by the chlor-alkali industry, which produces bleach, caustic soda and different products.

Most user products that historically contained chrysotile asbestos person been discontinued.

While chlorine is simply a commonly utilized disinfectant successful h2o treatment, determination are lone 10 chlor-alkali plants successful the U.S. that inactive usage asbestos diaphragms to nutrient chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The plants are mostly located successful Louisiana and Texas.

The usage of asbestos diaphragms has been declining and present accounts for astir one-third of the chlor-alkali accumulation successful the U.S., the EPA said.