Can America Ban Asbestos

The word “Asbestos” invokes very strong emotional responses in many Americans. Since the mid-1970’s, the fear over the effects of potential asbestos exposure in schools to our children became one of the most newsworthy and dominant public indoor environmental concerns. This concern eventually led to the ban of asbestos-containing products in public schools. An entirely new industry sprung up in the mid-1980’s for asbestos testing and removal of asbestos-containing materials, not only from schools, but eventually from public and commercial buildings as well. Yet in spite of how much press asbestos products received, the general public and news media have very little understanding as to what is asbestos and how exposure to it potentially affects human health. Contrary to general belief, it is still legal in the United States to import, process, manufacture, and use asbestos-containing products for certain limited uses. In 2007, there were 2,000 metric tons of asbestos imported into the United States [1]. This amount represents approximately 0.25% of the asbestos consumption in the United States at its peak consumption [2]. However, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have recently introduced legislation that would further curtail the use of asbestos.

Can We Ban Asbestos in America?

By Richard Lee PhD, Kim Allison, Kristin Bunker PhD, Brian Strohmeier PhD, Drew Van Orden

The “Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007,” (S.742) was unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate on October 4, 2007 [3]. This Bill bans the importation, manufacture, processing, and distribution of asbestos-containing products that contain more than 1% asbestos by weight [3]. A similar companion Bill, H.R.3339, was also introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on August 2, 2007, but the House Bill never moved beyond Committee deliberations and the Bill was never presented to the full House for voting [4]. Some members of the House argued that the Senate’s “Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007” Bill does not go far enough and a revised version of the House Bill was introduced in draft form to the Subcommittee on Environmental and Hazardous Materials on February 15, 2008 [5]. The proposed House draft legislation bans products containing asbestos in any concentration. However, the draft legislation specifies an exemption limit of less than 0.25% asbestos by weight for aggregate products (extracted from stone, sand, or gravel operations) [5]. The passed Senate Bill and House draft legislation use the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) definition of asbestos, which includes the asbestiform varieties of chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite. In addition, the definition of asbestos in the Senate Bill and the House draft legislation includes the asbestiform varieties of winchite and richterite, as well as any asbestiform amphibole material.

Whereas the Senate “Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007” calls for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), EPA, and other Federal entities to evaluate possible health effects and develop recommendations for identifying, distinguishing, and measuring non-asbestiform minerals and elongate mineral particles, the House draft legislation removes the call for these important health effect and mineral identification studies in an apparent effort to ban asbestos products as quickly as possible. However, the effects of a broader definition for asbestos on the potential cost increases on manufactured products in the United States, as well as the potential economic effects to the raw materials production, mining, aggregate, manufacturing and construction industries, is not sufficiently addressed in these Bills.

Complicating any discussion on asbestos are the many differences of opinion between the various scientific communities, health risk professionals, and regulators. Without an accepted definition for asbestos, improved sampling and analytical methods for distinguishing between asbestos and non-asbestiform elongated mineral particles; and a consensus on the relative health risks of minerals particles based on sound scientific study, the long reaching ramifications and economic impact to U.S. industrial commerce could be significant. Without further clarification of these issues, unfounded product bans and unwarranted public fears could result if this legislation is passed in its current form.

In order to fully understand the implications of the proposed House draft legislation to ban asbestos-containing products in the United States, it is recommended that everyone read and become familiar with the Senate and House versions of the “Ban Asbestos in America Acts”. The Bills can be accessed at:

It is also recommended that concerned individuals become active in their local professional and scientific societies to stay aware of how this pending legislation will impact themselves and their specific industries. For more information, please visit the following websites:

Associated Builders & Contractors: www.abc.org
Associated Equipment Distributors: www.aednet.org
Associated Equipment Manufacturers: www.aem.org
American Road and Transportation Builders Association: www.artba.org
Industrial Minerals Association - North America: www.ima-na.org
National Asphalt Pavement Association: www.hotmix.org
National Mining Association: www.nma.org
National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association: www.nssga.org

References
[1] United States Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2008, United States Geological Survey, Washington D.C., January 2008.
[2] Virta, R. L., Worldwide Asbestos Supply and Consumption Trends from 1900 to 2000, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Circular 1298, 2006.
[3] P. Murray, Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007, Bill S.742, U.S. Senate, 110th Congress, 1st Session, Washington, D.C., March 1, 2007.
[4] B. McCollum, Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2007, Bill H.R.3339, U.S. House of Representatives, 110th Congress, 1st Session, Washington, D.C., August 2, 2007.
[5] Subcommittee on Environmental and Hazardous Materials, Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008, House Draft Legislation, U.S. House of Representatives, 110th Congress, 2nd Session, Washington, D.C., February 15, 2008.

Request Additional Information

If you would like more information on this service please use the contact information provided at the top right of this page. To submit more general comments and questions please use the RJLG contact form.

You may also sign-up for the RJLG newsletter. You'll be the first to receive important service updates and announcements regarding the areas that interest you most.

Your Name:
Your Email:
Recipient Email:
Subject:
Message: