EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

[Disir]

Fast Company recently reported on the potential comeback of one of the most infamous building materials of recent memory. Asbestos is now legally allowed back into U.S. manufacturing under a serious of loopholes by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Fast Company reported, on June 1, the EPA authorized a “SNUR” (Significant New Use Rule) that allowed the distribution of products containing asbestos on a case-by-case basis.

According to Fast Company, the EPA’s recently released report detailing its new framework for evaluating the risk of its top prioritized substances states that the agency will “no longer consider the effect or presence of substances in the air, ground, or water in its risk assessments.”

This news comes after the EPA reviewed its first batch of 10 chemicals under the 2016 amendment to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which requires the agency to continually reevaluate hundreds of potentially toxic chemicals in lieu of removing them from the market or placing new restrictions on their use. The SNUR greenlights companies to use toxic chemicals like asbestos without consideration about how they will endanger people who are indirectly in contact with them.
EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

Phenomenally stupid move.

 

[depotoo]

Not as you depicted-
“There is a strong causal association between asbestos exposure and lung cancer and mesotheliomas (tumors arising from the thin membranes that line the chest (thoracic) and abdominal cavities and surround internal organs) (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3; Ref. 4; Ref. 5; Ref. 6). In addition, other cancers, as well as non-cancer effects, such as respiratory and immune effects, have been associated with asbestos exposure (Ref. 7).

Agency research conducted in support of the TSCA risk evaluation of asbestos revealed that the use of asbestos has declined dramatically in the United States since the 1970s when asbestos use was at its peak. EPA is taking action in this proposed rule to ensure that EPA receives timely advance notice and makes an appropriate determination prior to the commencement of manufacturing (including importing) or processing for any significant new use of asbestos (including as part of an article) as identified in Table 2. The rationale and objectives for this proposed SNUR are explained in detail in Unit III.”
Federal Register :: Asbestos; Significant New Use Rule