EPA bans the most common form of cancer-causing asbestos – which is still used in insulation, home appliances and brake pads, despite its link to 40,000 deaths per year
The Biden administration has issued a permanent ban on chrysotile asbestos after three decades of failed attempts to stop the use of all forms of the deadly carcinogenic mineral.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the ban as part of the new Toxic Substance Control Act, which was passed almost unanimously by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Asbestos is found in the US in insulation, household appliances and brake pads and is already banned in more than 50 countries.
The Biden administration has banned chrysotile asbestos after three decades of failed attempts to completely ban the deadly mineral
“Asbestos has harmed people across the country for decades, and under President Biden’s leadership, we are taking decisive action to ban its use and advance this administration’s historic environmental justice agenda,” said White House President Brenda Mallory House Council on Environmental Quality.
“This action marks an important step to improve chemical safety after decades of inadequate protections and helps advance President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot goal to end cancer as we know it.”
Asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer and is also linked to more than 40,000 deaths annually in the US, according to the EPA.