U.S. Bans Asbestos, Ending Long Debate : Manufacture of Most Products to Halt in 7 Years
The government today ordered a ban on almost all uses of asbestos, ending a decade-long debate over the health risk posed by the cancer-causing substance in such items as brake linings and water pipes.
The regulatory action, which will end the manufacture of most asbestos products in three phases over the next seven years, will not affect asbestos products already in use. Officials said replacing some of those products might be more hazardous than a gradual phase-out.
“This is pollution prevention. We’re eliminating a known cancer-causing substance from the marketplace,” declared EPA Administrator William K. Reilly. He said despite government attempts to curb asbestos emissions, the fibers continue to pose “a significant risk to current and future populations.”
Reilly said the cost of getting asbestos out of most products will be minimal because safer alternative products are available. The EPA estimated the regulation will cost society $459 million over 13 years.
The regulatory action does not affect ongoing efforts to rid buildings, including hundreds of schools, of asbestos insulation. Reilly said such efforts should continue under careful control to minimize exposure.
To Remain in a Few Items
Under the new ban, the EPA will allow asbestos to be a component in only a small number of items such as guided missile liners, acetylene cylinders, and some types of sealant tape and packaging.
But the ban by 1997 will cover an estimated 94% by volume of all asbestos used in a variety of products currently manufactured, the agency said.
Among those products are automobile brake pads and linings, cement water distribution pipes, roofing shingles, floor and pipe wrapping, asbestos millboard, gaskets and other construction products.
Because asbestos has been singled out as a cause of lung cancer, its use has been restricted in recent years. Loosely formed asbestos insulation for buildings and pipes no longer is used, and asbestos emissions into the air are regulated.
School officials across the country have been directed to inspect for asbestos and develop plans to eliminate it from school buildings.
But asbestos continues to be used in various forms for a wide variety of products. As recently as 1987 it was estimated that 85,000 tons of asbestos went into hundreds of products annually. Three years earlier the estimates were 240,000 tons a year.
Its use has continued, although scientists have known for years that asbestos fibers when inhaled can cause lung cancer and other lung disorders that may not show up for decades.
But while there is widespread agreement about the health risks from loosely packed asbestos found in building insulation or from high-levels of certain occupational exposure, the risks posed from its other uses have been debated for nearly a decade.
The final EPA rule does not affect products already in use such as asbestos brake pads in many cars and trucks now on the road or the thousands of miles of cement-asbestos water distribution pipes found in many parts of the country.
