Former EPA Administrators: "
It’s Time to Ban Asbestos."
Recently, two former administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency joined together to draft a powerful opinion piece in the New York Times. Gina McArthy, the 13th administrator of the EPA under President Barack Obama, and William K. Reilly, the 6th administrator of the EPA under President George H. W. Bush, called on Congress to ban the use and importation of asbestos in the United States.
Asbestos in the U.S.
Asbestos is a toxic mineral found naturally in soil and water. Because of its malleable, fibrous properties and its natural resistance to heat, it was once common in the U.S. and used in toys, cosmetics, construction materials, clothing, and automotive products. Unfortunately, asbestos is also deadly. By the 1960's, we knew that inhaling asbestos could lead to the lung disease asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs, abdomen, and other organs. Despite these dangers, the U.S. remained one of the top five worldwide consumers of asbestos until the late 1980's.In 1989, the U.S. finally placed serious restrictions on the use and importation of asbestos when the EPA finalized a rule intended to set a seven-year timeline for banning asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Unfortunately, the asbestos industry challenged the rule and a federal appeals court overturned the EPA ban two years later. In 2016, Congress passed the bipartisan Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, intended to give Congress the authority to ban harmful chemicals.
The EPA Is Not Acting
Unfortunately, as McArthy and Reilly point out, the EPA is not using the new tools provided by Congress. Instead, the Trump administration EPA asks importers of products with asbestos to notify the EPA if they resume discontinued uses of asbestos. The EPA does not ban the use of asbestos. And while the EPA has begun evaluating the risks of asbestos, it is not considering some of the important ways people and workers are exposed and has ignored scientific information about how asbestos exposure causes cancer.Asbestos still kills more than 40,000 people annually and, although 70 countries have banned the use and import of asbestos altogether, it is still used in the United States. McArthy and Reilly are calling on Congress to do what the EPA has failed to do and pass the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act, which would finally ban asbestos in the U.S. and save thousands of lives.
