A Call to Arms

There are few times in the history of asbestos that the voice of the public really means anything. This is one of those times.

A few days ago, on December 30th, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released its final assessment identifying risks to workers and consumers from the current uses of asbestos. They are now in a period of public comment which allows all of us to weigh in on exactly what we think and provide to them our recommendations. https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluation-asbestos-0.

The EPA attempted to outright ban asbestos in July 1989, an effort that was shot down by the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals two years later. At the time, the Court ruled that the EPA failed to demonstrate that a ban was the “least burdensome alternative” to regulating asbestos. In summary, the Court held as a matter of law and fact that the EPA had undertaken an insufficient investigation to make such a determination. The EPA didn’t appeal the ruling, but did receive clarification from the Court that the ban could apply to asbestos products that were not being manufactured, processed or imported into the United States on July 12, 1989, which was the day the EPA announced its proposed ruling. Hence, that is where we are pretty much today, over 30 years later.

The most amazing thing with asbestos is the inability to change inertia even as the science advances and the need to use asbestos in specific applications decreases or is eliminated. As an example, eliminating the use of asbestos in all automobile braking friction material during 1989 would have been difficult if not impossible for certain vehicles such as high performance cars. Today, it is a piece of cake. How do I know this? Arnold Anderson, the lead brake researcher at Ford Motor Company for whom I had a great deal of respect, told me this in 2004.

At the same time, there are clearly reasons why asbestos is still used in some limited applications in the United States. The word “asbestos” is such a regulatory and legal problem in industry that no one in the United States would knowingly use it for new equipment or processes in a manufacturing facility unless they believed that they had no choice. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, Asbestos, 2020, which tracks such matters, from 2013 to 2018 an estimated 325 to 775 metric tons of asbestos mineral was imported each year into the United States for consumption. In addition, a small amount of asbestos was imported in manufactured products including brake blocks used in the oil industry, rubber sheets for gaskets, and some vehicle friction products.

So, this is your time to weigh in. Tell your story to the EPA and let them know your position and why you hold that position. Base it on science, both in terms of alternative technologies and health risks. Let the EPA know that, because of the disease latency, its decision will be affecting real people and real companies for exposures that could give rise to diseases until after 2050 and beyond. That would be our children’s children’s children.

For your help and consideration, below is the U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summary for Asbestos in 2020.