18th Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Congressional Staff Briefing Resources (July 2023)

2023 Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Congressional Staff Briefing Executive Summary Quotes

PRESENTERS: 

  1. Raja Flores, MD; Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  2. Mike Meenan, Olin Corporation
  3. Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH, American Public Health Association (APHA)
  4. Linda Reinstein, Cofounder, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)
  5. Greg Russell, Government Relations, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
  6. Bob Sussman, JD, Counsel, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)
  7. James Williams, Jr., Director, Federal Relations, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc

Raja Flores, MD; Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

  • “More people have died since 9/11 than on 9/11 from asbestos-related diseases.”
  • Hippocratic Oath – … I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. 
  • “Asbestos is deadly. Period.”

Mike Meenan, Olin Corporation 

  • “Olin is the chlor-alkali industry leader, and the actions that our industry takes are the linchpin to ending the use of asbestos in this country. Olin has a clear path to end the use of asbestos, and we encourage the other key asbestos chlor-alkali player to support Olin’s plan. As only about seven percent of the chlorine produced in this country is used for water and wastewater treatment, the asbestos exit path won’t impact supply to water uses nor even reduce the total supply of chlorine. It is time to come together and end the use of asbestos.” Scott Sutton, CEO, Olin Corporation 

Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH, American Public Health Association (APHA)

  • Over 40,000 Americans die each year from asbestos-caused diseases, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and cancers of the larynx and ovaries. Asbestos-related diseases are 100% preventable. To do so, lawmakers must act to prohibit the import and use of all asbestos. 
  • The American Public Health Association (APHA) adopted a policy statement in 2019 urging Congress to ban the importation, manufacture, processing, and distribution in commerce of asbestos and asbestos-containing products. The U.S. must catch up to the 70 countries that have already banned it.

Linda Reinstein, Cofounder, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)

  • Although nearly all U.S. chlor-alkali corporations now support the transition away from asbestos technology, in 2022, OxyChem imported an estimated 300 metric tons of raw asbestos for asbestos diaphragms.  
  • The Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now (ARBAN) Act, an amendment to EPA TSCA, will ban the six asbestos fibers – chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite, and the Libby Amphibole (winchite, and richterite) in all conditions of use. 

Greg Russell, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)

  • “As asbestos becomes disturbed or damaged by fire or fire suppression activities deadly fibers becomes airborne where firefighter inhale large amounts of these microscopic fibers, increasing their risk of developing a life-altering asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.”
  • According to the NIOSH Firefighter study, “Firefighters have a rate of mesothelioma two times greater than the rate in the U.S. population as a whole.”

Bob Sussman, JD, Counsel, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)

  • With leadership from Olin, we have the opportunity to end asbestos imports by chlor-alkali producers as soon as an asbestos ban is put in place. Stopping imports by this industry and assuring a near-term transition to non-asbestos technology by this one remaining asbestos-using industry in the U.S. would be a landmark step.

James Williams, Jr., Director, Federal Relations, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc

  • Asbestos has been classified as causing cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 
  • The ACS CAN supports the passage of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023 to protect individuals from exposure to asbestos, a known cancer-causing agent.