EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.
The latest rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulations under a landmark 2016 law that overhauled regulations for tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products, from household cleaners to clothing and furniture.
The new rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only existing use of asbestos in the United States. The substance is found in brake linings and gaskets, among other things, and is used for the production of chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the final rule an important step to protect public health.
“With today’s ban, the EPA is finally closing the door on a chemical so dangerous that it has been banned in more than 50 countries,” Regan said. “This historic ban has been more than thirty years in the making, and it is thanks to changes Congress made in 2016 to enact the Toxic Substance Control Act,” the main U.S. law regulating the use of chemicals .
Asbestos exposure is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers, and is linked to more than 40,000 deaths per year in the US. Ending the continued use of asbestos advances the goals of President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, a whole-of-government initiative to end cancer in the U.S., Regan said.
“The science is clear: asbestos is a known carcinogen that has serious public health consequences. This action is just the beginning as we work to protect all American families, workers and communities from toxic chemicals,” Regan said.
The 2016 law authorized new regulations for tens of thousands of toxic chemicals found in everyday products, including substances like asbestos and trichlorethylene that have been known for decades to cause cancer but were largely unregulated under federal law. The law, known as the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, was intended to clarify a hodgepodge of state regulations on chemicals and update the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 1976 law that had remained unchanged for four decades.
The EPA banned asbestos in 1989, but the rule was largely overturned by a 1991 court decision that weakened the EPA’s authority under TSCA to address human health risks from asbestos or other existing chemicals. The 2016 law required the EPA to evaluate chemicals and provide protection against unreasonable risks.
Asbestos, once common in home insulation and other products, has been banned in more than fifty countries, and its use in the U.S. has been declining for decades. The only form of asbestos known to be currently imported, processed, or distributed for use in the US is chrysotile asbestos, which is imported primarily from Brazil and Russia. It is used by the chlor-alkali industry, which produces bleach, caustic soda and other products.
Most consumer products that traditionally contained chrysotile asbestos are no longer available.
Although chlorine is a commonly used disinfectant in water treatment, there are only ten chlor-alkali plants in the U.S. that still use asbestos membranes to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The factories are mainly located in Louisiana and Texas.
The use of asbestos membranes has declined and now accounts for about a third of chlor-alkali production in the U.S., the EPA said.
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