WASHINGTON – The Environmental Working Group applauds House and Senate lawmakers for introducing legislation to ban the production, use and distribution of commercial asbestos in the U.S. The bill, if enacted, would significantly help the fight to eradicate the cancer-causing chemical.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) on March 30 introduced the bill, known as the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now, or ARBAN, Act. It comes as the U.S. recognizes Global Asbestos Awareness Week April 1 to 7 – an annual event that highlights the serious health risks associated with asbestos exposure.
“EWG applauds Sen. Merkley and Rep. Bonamici for their tireless commitment to seeing the U.S. once and for all ban this notorious carcinogen,” said EWG President and co-founder Ken Cook. “Asbestos-triggered disease has killed countless Americans and continues to leave thousands of families grieving for the loss of loved ones every year.”
EWG previously calculated that 12,000 to 15,000 Americans a year die from asbestos-related diseases. In all, from 1999 to 2017, an estimated 236,981 to 277,654 Americans died from asbestos exposure, as shown on an interactive map from EWG’s Action Fund.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent global health research center at the University of Washington, estimates that 40,764 American workers died from asbestos-caused diseases in 2019 – and that, from 1991 to 2019, 1,114,520 Americans died from asbestos-caused diseases.
“By passing the ARBAN Act, Congress can send a clear message that it puts public health and safety ahead of asbestos industry profits,” Cook said.
“Who could argue that something as deadly as asbestos should remain legal?” said Linda Reinstein, president/CEO and co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, or ADAO. “After more than 1 million deaths, it’s beyond time for Congress to pass legislation to protect future generations of Americans from further exposure to asbestos.”
The ARBAN Act is named after Reinstein’s late husband Alan, who died in May 2006 of mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused only by asbestos exposure.
The Environmental Protection Agency banned asbestos in 1989, only to see the prohibition largely overturned two years later, after the chemical industry challenged it in court.
Since 1991:
- More than 1 million Americans have died from preventable asbestos-caused diseases, according to the ADAO’s analysis of data from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
- Although domestic production of asbestos has ended, the ADAO’s analysis of U.S. Geological Survey data shows an estimated 375,000 metric tons of asbestos have been imported to the U.S. The chlor-alkali industry is the main importer of raw asbestos, which relies on it to produce chlorine and other chemicals.
- Almost 70 other countries have banned asbestos.
The ARBAN Act is comprehensive legislation that will:
- Prohibit the importation and commercial use of all six asbestos fibers (chrysotile, crocidolite (riebeckite), amosite (cummingtonite-grunerite), anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite) as well as Libby Amphibole, winchite and richerite.
- Transition plants in the chlor-alkali industry that use asbestos diaphragms to non-asbestos technology within two years.
- Develop an educational outreach program to support full compliance with the bill.
In addition to EWG and the ADAO, other organizations endorsing the ARBAN Act include the American Cancer Society, International Association of Fire Fighters, American Public Health Association, Environmental Information Association and Collegium Ramazzini.
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The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action. Visit www.ewg.org for more information.
