It is not a new revelation that the administration of President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of deregulation. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now considering welcoming new uses of asbestos—a proven human carcinogen.

According to an article on Curbed, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has stood behind scientific and now commonly accepted data regarding the danger of asbestos—a name applied to a group of six minerals that are mined from the earth and historically used in building materials as well as other products. AIA, as a representative of the architecture industry, has spurned its use for at least 40 years.

In a recent response to the effort to deregulate, an AIA spokesperson reportedly rebuffed the proposed allowance of new uses of asbestos with a statement from the professional group. The statement challenges the EPA to step up its former regulatory duties and issue an all encompassing ban on uses of asbestos in the U.S.

According to Curbed, the EPA proposed early in June that domestic uses of asbestos be considered on an individual case basis. This represents a reversal of elements of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which called for strong monitoring activity and frequent review of asbestos use in products such as plastics.

Critics say this proposed reversal could open the door for industry to create new uses of asbestos, which could create whole new avenues for exposure of the American people to a known carcinogen. Exposure to airborne asbestos fibers has been directly linked to mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, heart, abdomen, and sometimes testes. Asbestos has also been implicated in some cases of lung cancer and pre-cancerous conditions known as asbestosis.

The time between exposure to the fibers and outbreak of the disease can be as long as 40 years, but the average latency period is 15 to 30 years. Deregulation on the uses of asbestos, if allowed, might spark an American health crisis many decades down the road.

Around 3,000 individuals a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma presently. The overall five-year survival rate for people with this diagnosis is only 10 percent because symptoms rarely show until the cancer is well into its advanced stages.

While all uses of asbestos were never banned in the U.S., the construction industry—which had adopted the mined minerals because of their heat, fire, and chemical resistance—has made significant inroads to removing it. This effort was in response to growing scientific knowledge and social pressure as asbestos dangers became well known.

The cancer causing agent is still being imported despite this construction industry effort because of asbestos applications in chemical processes like the making of chlorine. Chlorine is a contributing product to making PVC pipe that is used in homes throughout the country today.

Globally, asbestos has been banned in 50 countries and, after Brazil started implementing laws to ban asbestos production, Russia is the only country that currently produces asbestos and offers direct distribution to the U.S.