The United States announced Monday that it will ban the only type of asbestos it still uses, which is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the country annually.
What is asbestos?
According to the World Health Organization, the term “asbestos” is applied to a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals that have commercial interest now, or had commercial interest in the past, due to their extraordinary resistance to tensile strength, their poor conductivity of heat, and their relative resistance to chemicals on them.
For these reasons, asbestos is used for insulation purposes inside buildings and in components of a number of products, such as roofing sheets, water supply pipes, fire blankets, plastic fillers, and medical packaging, as well as in automobile clutches, automobile brake linings, gaskets, and pads.
The most important forms of asbestos are chrysotile (white asbestos) and crocidolite (blue asbestos). Other forms include amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite.
Asbestos is banned in more than 50 countries, and its use in the United States has declined for decades, and the only form of it known to be currently imported, processed, or distributed for use in the United States is chrysotile asbestos, which is imported from Brazil and Russia, and is used in the chlorine industry. And alkalis that produce bleach, caustic soda and other products, according to the Associated Press.
Health risks
But despite these benefits, it has been shown that they are carcinogenic to humans, and may cause mesothelioma (a type of cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue that covers most internal organs), lung cancer, and cancer of the larynx and ovary, and may cause diseases. Others, such as asbestosis (asbestosis of the lungs).
And she says Global Health Organization About 125 million people around the world are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces, and more than 107,000 people die annually as a result of exposure to this substance.
The Australian government website says that despite these risks, there have been attempts to reduce the danger of chrysotile, which has led to its continued use in building materials in some low- and middle-income countries, and therefore, deaths related to cancers are expected to continue in these countries.
What is the American decision?
The new decision represents a major step for the EPA under a landmark law, passed in 2016, that overhauled regulations governing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products, such as household cleaners, clothing and furniture, that were known for decades to cause cancer, but were not regulated. Largely regulated under federal law.
The Environmental Protection Agency banned asbestos in 1989, but most of the ban’s rules were largely overturned by a 1991 appeals court decision that weakened the agency’s authority to address risks to human health from asbestos or other materials.
The 2016 law required the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate chemicals and establish protections against the risks.
Under the new decision, the ban on imports of chrysotile will begin as soon as the measure enters into force, but it allows companies up to 12 years to phase out its use in manufacturing.
Importing other types of asbestos will remain legal, but companies will be required to notify the EPA in advance, and the agency will have the authority to reject those imports.
The agency head saidMichael Regan told reporters Monday: “With this ban, the EPA has finally closed the door on a chemical so dangerous that it has been banned in more than 50 countries.”
“It has been a long time since the United States banned asbestos, and it is unacceptable that this known carcinogen continues to threaten Americans and destroy families,” said Congresswoman Susan Bonamici.
Human rights activists who have worked for decades to ban all forms of asbestos consider the new rules insufficient.
Linda Reinstein, president and founder of Asbestos Awareness, said the ban “does not restrict the import and use of five other recognized asbestos minerals,” according to the New York Times.
Reinstein is concerned that the new rules “allow for an unnecessarily long transition period and create inconsistent compliance deadlines for some asbestos users that will enable hazardous exposure to chrysotile asbestos to continue for years to come.”
The American Chemistry Council, a lobbying organization, had asked for 15 years to phase out the use of asbestos, saying that eliminating its use in the manufacture of drinking water treatment components “would cause significant harm to the United States’ drinking water supply, products that are essential to climate, sustainability, and infrastructure projects.” Continuing.”
Michelle Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday that these concerns were taken into account when the agency set the final rules, as it considered whether the original two-year timeframe “would lead to the closure of some facilities that make the materials we need to purify our drinking water.” That’s why we’ve allocated some extra time to the agency.”
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