Asbestos in the US, finally banned?

[Maxmars]

Years behind many other countries, and despite push-back from industry special interests, the US finally (and officially) bans most common asbestos.
 

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The U.S. is prohibiting the use of chrysotile asbestos, joining more than 50 other countries that have already outlawed the substance. The ban comes after decades of pushback from companies that have used it in everything from consumer goods to manufacturing processes.

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Of course, this is a ban born of American political "compromise" so don't get too excited.  It's not a complete elimination of the known cancer-causing substance so cherished by the industry... and it won't be "immediate," nor will it mean anything like an 'admission of harm' by the companies who can't imagine a future without asbestos...
 

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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.

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Form an article in NPR: The U.S. bans most common form of asbestos, after decades of pushback from industry

[BeTheGoddess]

I've been to Whitnoom, beautiful place, oasis in the desert, oh and theres abby everywhere. The town now has been evacuated after many decades of trying to close it down. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittenoom,..._Australia

The Oils penned this track about the town
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhtbr8daN3M

Asbestos was banned here years ago but its still in place on a lot of residential properties built in the 50s because of the cost to remove it. It was used for everything from fencing to roofing during the post war era. Horrible stuff.

[Maxmars]

Another article about asbestos being banned

From ChemistryWorld: Chrysotile asbestos use and import ban announced in the US
 

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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised a ban that prohibits the use of chrysotile asbestos, which is still used and imported into the US. This action, taken under the Toxic Substances Control Act (Tsca), follows decades of unsuccessful attempts by lawmakers and health advocacy groups to ban asbestos in the US.

‘The science is clear – asbestos is a known carcinogen that has severe impacts on public health,’ stated EPA Administrator Michael Regan in the 18 March announcement. ‘That’s why EPA is so proud to finalise this long-needed ban on ongoing uses of asbestos.’

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Important to note that, as per usual in the US, the regulatory agency was exceedingly kind to the industrial interests...
 

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The new ban only addresses one of six asbestos fibres, and it just applies to six applications. Advocacy groups like the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization suggest that this leaves the door open to other types of asbestos.

Under the EPA’s new prohibition, the eight chlor-alkali facilities in the US that still use asbestos will have to transition to either non-asbestos diaphragms or to non-asbestos membrane technology. The final rule ensures that six of the eight will complete this transition within five years, with the remaining two to follow.

Phase-out periods 
The agency acknowledges that converting facilities is not easy. Therefore, it specifies a five-year transition period for companies to convert their first facility to non-asbestos membrane technology, eight years to convert their second and 12 years to convert their third.

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So, after 40 years... they made "some" progress... and they're proud of it.

[JOM]

Years behind many other countries, and despite push-back from industry special interests, the US finally (and officially) bans most common asbestos.
 

---

The U.S. is prohibiting the use of chrysotile asbestos, joining more than 50 other countries that have already outlawed the substance. The ban comes after decades of pushback from companies that have used it in everything from consumer goods to manufacturing processes.

---

Of course, this is a ban born of American political "compromise" so don't get too excited.  It's not a complete elimination of the known cancer-causing substance so cherished by the industry... and it won't be "immediate," nor will it mean anything like an 'admission of harm' by the companies who can't imagine a future without 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.

---

Form an article in NPR: The U.S. bans most common form of asbestos, after decades of pushback from industry

That is strange. As far as I know as an Environmental Chemist reporting data, my office will evaluate sites with asbestos and we are not allowed to let it be exposed and must properly dispose of it. So, I had no knowledge of any process that still used it. Hmmmm.

[Maxmars]

That is strange. As far as I know as an Environmental Chemist reporting data, my office will evaluate sites with asbestos and we are not allowed to let it be exposed and must properly dispose of it. So, I had no knowledge of any process that still used it. Hmmmm.

It sounds like you have practical experience dealing with information pertaining to asbestos.  I would like to learn how the changes filter towards the application of reporting.  I hope you can use this information in your work, or at least offer a better understanding of the actual process of applying the new restrictions.

Thanks for your input.

[argentus]

FINally the U.S. bans the USE of asbestos.   I emphasized that because in the early 80s, the U.S. banned the production of asbestos in construction products -- floor tile, ceiling tile, fireproofing, boiler gaskets, pipe lagging insulation, sprayed-on acoustical ceiling (popcorn ceiling), etc.   But!  They did not ban the usage of asbestos products, thus all of the above flooded into the U.S. and asbestos mines continued to operate.   

Asbestos is the California state rock -- Serpentine crystal.   You can still find it all around the hills of San Francisco.  It is beautiful, with green and white striations.   

The whole thing is about friable -- able to crush with moderate hand pressure -- asbestos.   That which is bound up in floor tile is difficult to make it respirable, even if it is chipped up.   I know this because I was one of those night owls who took air samples during late-nite remediation during the 80s and 90s.   I was a CIH -- Certified Industrial Hygienist, and I took my job very seriously.  Lives and health were on the line.   

One of the worst forms of asbestos was (and is!) Amosite.   Amosite is from South Africa and it is hydrophobic.   That means that it cannot be wet down by water.   Most times asbestos is wet down in order to make it less airborne before removal.   Amosite doesn't take to water and thus requires special treatment.   Many MANY ceiling tiles in the 70s and 80s used Amosite as a binder.   It was a really good binder, although very dangerous to people who were present when the tiles broke or were replaced.  

Asbestos fireproofing is probably the very most friable form.   It was literally blown in under pressure and created a fluffy fireproofing.   As a fireproofing it perform in an excellent way, however often it was blown in into air plenums in buildings, which, of course, expose the innocent building tenants to the problems of asbestos.  

Why is asbestos so scary?   Well, because it is a fiber when tends to break in a linear manner along its axis.  Fiberglass, which is also dangerous to inhale, breaks across the fiber, while asbestos breaks lengthwise, creating a sort of fishhook structure, such that when it is inhaled, it sticks in the alveoli of the lungs.   Enough of them stick and they create a lung scar.   Considerable inhalations and whole sections of lung show white on an X-ray, and the victim has what is called asbestosis, where these sections of lung lose the ability to transfer oxygen to the body.   Severe forms of this disease leave people sipping tiny bits of air, wishing for more, until their tiny bits of air can no longer sustain their lives.   It's a super shitty way to die.   Some of the more fortunate ones contract mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the lining of the lungs, which makes them stiff and also can transfer to other parts of the body. 

The cooling towers of 70's and 80's of large buildings had fins made of asbestos.   Water piping of the same age in some places was made of asbestos.  In both cases, the water kept the fiber flow down, but there was some risk associated with the ingestion of the asbestos fibers.  

My own personal opinion is that asbestos is a mineral that can be used in certain controlled situations, in which it performs marvelously, such as the gaskets in the Space Shuttles, and other isolated circumstances.   I devoted 20 years of my life to the remediation of this mineral in commercial and residential buildings.   

Bottom Line, IMVHO:   If you are having work done in your home or business, contact a forensic lab and have them take and analyze samples.

[Maxmars]

Finally, the U.S. bans the USE of asbestos.  .....

Thank you so much for that.... 

[Nerb]

It was used for everything from fencing to roofing during the post war era. Horrible stuff.

It used to be used for cigarette filters.

Crazy eh?

[JOM]

Excellent report. I have a colleague who does that now. I have had to work with indoor air issues in the past as well related to mold and asbestos. Now I am more involved with ambient air data. One of my earliest gigs was working with some Vanderbilt Environmental Scientists who had some patents and I went to the E Coast and did sampling in warehouses that had explosions from a chemical and ran some samples against bioassays. It was crazy.

FINally the U.S. bans the USE of asbestos.   I emphasized that because in the early 80s, the U.S. banned the production of asbestos in construction products -- floor tile, ceiling tile, fireproofing, boiler gaskets, pipe lagging insulation, sprayed-on acoustical ceiling (popcorn ceiling), etc.   But!  They did not ban the usage of asbestos products, thus all of the above flooded into the U.S. and asbestos mines continued to operate.   

Asbestos is the California state rock -- Serpentine crystal.   You can still find it all around the hills of San Francisco.  It is beautiful, with green and white striations.   

The whole thing is about friable -- able to crush with moderate hand pressure -- asbestos.   That which is bound up in floor tile is difficult to make it respirable, even if it is chipped up.   I know this because I was one of those night owls who took air samples during late-nite remediation during the 80s and 90s.   I was a CIH -- Certified Industrial Hygienist, and I took my job very seriously.  Lives and health were on the line.   

One of the worst forms of asbestos was (and is!) Amosite.   Amosite is from South Africa and it is hydrophobic.   That means that it cannot be wet down by water.   Most times asbestos is wet down in order to make it less airborne before removal.   Amosite doesn't take to water and thus requires special treatment.   Many MANY ceiling tiles in the 70s and 80s used Amosite as a binder.   It was a really good binder, although very dangerous to people who were present when the tiles broke or were replaced.  

Asbestos fireproofing is probably the very most friable form.   It was literally blown in under pressure and created a fluffy fireproofing.   As a fireproofing it perform in an excellent way, however often it was blown in into air plenums in buildings, which, of course, expose the innocent building tenants to the problems of asbestos.  

Why is asbestos so scary?   Well, because it is a fiber when tends to break in a linear manner along its axis.  Fiberglass, which is also dangerous to inhale, breaks across the fiber, while asbestos breaks lengthwise, creating a sort of fishhook structure, such that when it is inhaled, it sticks in the alveoli of the lungs.   Enough of them stick and they create a lung scar.   Considerable inhalations and whole sections of lung show white on an X-ray, and the victim has what is called asbestosis, where these sections of lung lose the ability to transfer oxygen to the body.   Severe forms of this disease leave people sipping tiny bits of air, wishing for more, until their tiny bits of air can no longer sustain their lives.   It's a super shitty way to die.   Some of the more fortunate ones contract mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the lining of the lungs, which makes them stiff and also can transfer to other parts of the body. 

The cooling towers of 70's and 80's of large buildings had fins made of asbestos.   Water piping of the same age in some places was made of asbestos.  In both cases, the water kept the fiber flow down, but there was some risk associated with the ingestion of the asbestos fibers.  

My own personal opinion is that asbestos is a mineral that can be used in certain controlled situations, in which it performs marvelously, such as the gaskets in the Space Shuttles, and other isolated circumstances.   I devoted 20 years of my life to the remediation of this mineral in commercial and residential buildings.   

Bottom Line, IMVHO:   If you are having work done in your home or business, contact a forensic lab and have them take and analyze samples.

[BeTheGoddess]

It used to be used for cigarette filters.

Crazy eh?

Its like their trying to kill us.