Posted on August 23, 2022

On August 17, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) hosted our 17th Congressional Staff Briefing, “Impact of Asbestos on Public Health, Environment, and Economy.” These briefings are an opportunity for ADAO and other science, health, and environmental experts to share knowledge and updates with Congressional staffers and members about the need to ban asbestos imports and use in the United States.

Asbestos kills nearly 40,000 Americans each year. Its carcinogenic properties have been known for decades, but it is still legal and lethal in the United States. The last time the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried to ban asbestos was over 30 years ago in 1989, but the ban was overturned just two years later. Since then, over one million Americans have lost their lives to asbestos-caused illnesses including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and cancers of the lung, larynx, and ovaries. 

“The most devastating case I see is when we go to the operating room to take these cancers out, and we get in there, and we find we can’t do anything, and we have to open and close this patient. And I have to tell the family that’s it. This patient is dying. There’s nothing more that we can do,” said Dr. Raja Flores, Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine during the briefing. 

Though these briefings are helpful in educating Congressional members about the dangers of asbestos, we want to make sure that all the resources and information we share with Congress is available to the public as well. Therefore, we have put the resources below so that you can share them with your communities and help keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

“The scary thing about this is that it’s preventable. Asbestos is still out there because there’s a lot of misinformation. People frequently think, ‘wow, you mean asbestos is still legal?’ I mean, there’s a reason why ADAO has had 17 of these staff for meetings- because it’s not banned in the United States,” Dr. Flores, who has treated mesothelioma cancer patients for 30 years, continued. 

ADAO is also making these resources available because it is hard to decipher what exactly is happening, and how it will affect the average American. In April of this year, EPA announced its proposed Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos Risk Management rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The proposed rule would ban importation of raw chrysotile asbestos and chrysotile-containing products for the six conditions of uses addressed in EPA’s  Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos Risk Evaluation. “There’s no known safe level of asbestos exposure. We need to ban every fiber and every use,” said Brent Kynoch, Managing Director of the Environmental Information Association (EIA). 

Meanwhile, this summer, Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Suzanne Bonamici introduced the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN) of 2022. Both of these actions were discussed at the briefing and are explained in the materials below, so that all Americans know how these regulations and legislative actions would impact them.

Topics discussed at this briefing included:

  • Health effect of asbestos exposure, asbestos disease, and treatments,
  • Asbestos imports and use commercially and in consumer products,
  • Devastating impact of legacy asbestos in homes, schools and buildings,
  • Update on EPA new proposed Part 1 Chrysotile Asbestos, Part 2 Asbestos Legacy,  and Asbestos Reporting rules under TSCA, and
  • Need to enact the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now (ARBAN) Act

Below, you will find all the same materials we shared with Congressional members. 

Briefing Materials: 
2022 Briefing Flyer 
2022 Briefing Speaker Biographies
2022 Briefing PowerPoint
2022 Briefing Blog
2022 Briefing Release
2022 Briefing Executive Summary
2022 Recorded Briefing Video

Resources:
ADAO Comments on EPA Part 1 Proposed Chrysotile Asbestos Risk Management Rule
ADAO Comments on EPA Proposed Asbestos Reporting Rule
EPA Part 1 Proposed Chrysotile Asbestos Rule
EPA: Economic Analysis of the TSCA Section 6 Proposed Rule for Asbestos Risk Management, Part 1 
Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act Legislation from 2016 – 2022
Infographic: Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN) 2016 – 2022  
Infographic: Chlor-Alkali Plants Using Asbestos Diaphragms, Imports, and Locations
State-by-State Asbestos Mortality Study  
ARBAN 2022 Support Letters 
ARBAN 2022 ADAO Press Release  
ARBAN 2022: Senator Jeff Merkley Introduces the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (VIDEO)
ARBAN 2022 Senate EPW Hearing (VIDEO)
ARBAN May 2019 House E&C Hearing (VIDEO)
ARBAN November 2019 House E&C Mark-Up (VIDEO) Voted out by 47-1
200+ Testimonies in our “Share your Story” Collection 

Studies:
2022 “Carcinogenicity of occupational exposure as a firefighter”
2022 “Shift in lung cancer stage at diagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City”
2013 NIOSH Study of Firefighters Finds Increased Rates of Cancer