TITLE: EPA bans asbestos, "finally slamming the door" on carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-bans-asbestos-carcinogen-final-rule/
EXCERPT: The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products and that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.
The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a landmark 2016 law that overhauled regulations governing 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 ongoing use of asbestos in the United States. The substance is found in products such as brake linings and gaskets and is used to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the final rule a major step to protect public health.
"With today's ban, EPA is finally slamming the door on a chemical so dangerous that it has been banned in over 50 countries,'' Regan said. "This historic ban is more than 30 years in the making, and it's thanks to amendments that Congress made in 2016 to fix the Toxic Substances Control Act,'' the main U.S. law governing use of chemicals.
TITLE: The U.S. bans most common form of asbestos, after decades of pushback from industry
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/18/1239299448/the-u-s-bans-most-common-form-of-asbestos-after-decades-of-pushback-from-industr
EXCERPT: The EPA tried to ban asbestos outright in the late 1980s, but companies fought back. When the agency announced its 1989 prohibition on the use of asbestos, there was a carve-out for the chlorine industry.
Then, two years later, a panel of federal judges deemed the rule too onerous and overturned it, scuttling for decades any additional attempts by the EPA to ban asbestos and other dangerous chemicals.
"An immediate ban on the import of chrysotile asbestos for the chlor-alkali industry is a long overdue step forward for public health," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement. "However, it cannot be the end of the road when it comes to phasing out other dangerous asbestos fibers, and Congress has a role to play here when it comes to providing stronger protections for our health."
Though the use of asbestos in the U.S. has been on the wane, it hasn't vanished altogether.
The chlor-alkali industry uses large filters containing asbestos called diaphragms to make chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and chlorine, which can be used to disinfect drinking water and wastewater.
The EPA is immediately banning the import of chrysotile asbestos for the industry and requiring the eight chlor-alkali plants in the U.S. still using asbestos diaphragms to phase out their use.
Asbestos isn't required to produce chlorine, the agency noted, and two-thirds of the chlorine made in the U.S. is done so without the use of asbestos.
Producers will have five years to transition from using asbestos diaphragms to ones that don't contain the substance. Those that shift from asbestos diaphragms to non-asbestos membrane technology will have five years to convert their first facility, eight years to convert their second and 12 years to convert their third.
The ban also prohibits the use of asbestos in certain products. Oilfield brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, and other vehicle friction products and gaskets will be barred from containing asbestos six months after the rule's effective date.
Sheet gaskets containing asbestos will also be outlawed two years after the effective date of the rule, though there will be exceptions when it's used to make titanium dioxide or for the disposal of nuclear material.
TITLE: US has dealt final blow to asbestos. But this carcinogen is still widely used in India
https://theprint.in/science/us-has-dealt-final-blow-to-asbestos-but-this-carcinogenic-is-still-widely-used-in-india/2007039/
EXCERPT: Despite India enacting a ban on asbestos mining enacted in 1993, there is no law in place to restrict its use in construction, import or trade. India also exports products like pipes that use asbestos.
Moreover, India is one of the largest consumers and users of asbestos globally, and accounted for 44 percent of global imports in 2021. Major imports come from Russia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Poland, and South Africa. Nearly all of it is chrysotile asbestos, which hasn’t been banned in Russia, but is illegal in Brazil, Hungary, Poland, and South Africa.
Indian exports of asbestos, on the other hand, were mostly sent to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
While India has managed to phase out asbestos from the railways, the fibrous mineral continues to be used in housing and construction, especially in roofing. Chrysotile is mixed in with cement for the purpose, but exposure to it is not minimised.
Just like in America, asbestos is also used in piping, vehicles, brake parts, and more. Though India continues to trade and use the mineral, it also provides working hazard protection and compensation for asbestos.
However, patients often find it difficult to establish a link between their exposure to asbestos and illness/cancer because in most cases symptoms and disease develop after 25-30 years.
Asbestos-related cancers and diseases are typically incurable, and lowers life expectancy to less than a decade. Diagnosis typically requires subsequent palliative care.
Health experts have continuously voiced concern about asbestos use in India and the need for awareness campaigns about it.
A 2019 research by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR- Mumbai) on asbestos exposure in India projected that palliative care would be needed in the next four decades for six million patients with asbestos-related disease and half a million people with cancer, in India.