Two U.S. Senators have co-sponsored legislation that would increase the amount of information available to the public about where deadly disease-causing asbestos is found.

The Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act, introduced by Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, “modernizes” the 1988 Asbestos Information Act, which requires manufacturers and processors of asbestos-containing material to report information about their products to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The 1988 law contains only a one-time asbestos reporting requirement, and because it pre-dated the Internet, the information was published in the Federal Register and was not easily accessible to most Americans. The proposed READ Act requires manufacturers, importers and anyone else who handles asbestos-containing products to annually report information to the EPA about their products and any publicly-accessible location in which the products have been known to be present in the past year.

Under the READ Act, the information would go directly to a searchable online database.

Asbestos is a carcinogenic substance that is banned in many countries, but not in the United States. It is still permissible in certain products and locations and is a legal import.

Asbestos exposure drastically increases the risk of mesothelioma and other cancers. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 107,000 people die worldwide – 10,000 of those in the United States — as a result of asbestos exposure.

Extended exposure to asbestos fibers can cause a variety of asbestos-related lung diseases including pleural plaque, pleural effusion, asbestosis, asbestos lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is cancer of the pleura, which is tissue around the lungs. Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases.

Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos fibers but people working in shipbuilding, asbestos mining and milling, manufacturing of asbestos textiles and other asbestos products, insulation work in the construction and building trades, and a variety of other trades are at greatest risk of developing health problems as a result of the exposure, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Other workers at risk include demolition workers, drywall removers, asbestos removal workers, firefighters, and automobile workers.

First responders and recovery and cleanup personnel who worked at the World Trade Center — where asbestos was used to build the twin towers — following the 2001 terrorist attacks are at an increased risk of developing an asbestos-related disease, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Asbestos is composed of naturally occurring minerals that are tiny threads of fiber resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals. It is naturally present in the air, water, and soil and does not cause the majority of people to fall ill. Those most significantly impacted are people who have extended asbestos exposure, typically through work or substantial environmental contact.

Until the 1970s, asbestos was widely used in numerous American commercial industries, such as strengthening cement and plastics, providing roofing insulation, fireproofing and soundproofing, as well as for the shipbuilding industry to insulate boilers, steam pipes, and hot water pipes.