Under the current administration, there has been a lessening of regulation which could ultimately lead many to file a future asbestos exposure lawsuit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed that it may consider approving new uses of the mineral known as asbestos on a case-by-case basis, according to a Quartz article.

Asbestos has long been known to be a cancer-causing agent and is most closely associated with a specific type of the disease which attacks the lining of the lungs, heart, abdomen, and testes called mesothelioma.

Though not connected as readily in common knowledge, individuals that have filed an asbestos exposure lawsuit have often been diagnosed with other conditions such as generalized lung cancer or asbestosis—a pervasive scarring of the lungs which leads to severe breathing issues and other problems.

Asbestos Regulations Changing

The EPA proposed in early July a significant new use rule which widens the previously narrowed gate opening for asbestos manufacturing and products, according to the published article. This is in contrast to years of EPA bans on the material.

Rather than automatically reject asbestos-based products based upon restrictions enacted in 1989, the EPA is poised to evaluate individual requests for manufacturing, importing, or processing asbestos products on a case-by-case basis.

Based upon a short-term evaluation of the consequences of this proposed rule, it looks as if the floodgates have opened. A comparison of July and August 2018 asbestos imports is striking with a jump from 13 to 272 metric tons of the disease-producing mineral. This is an increase of 2,000 percent, according to Quartz.

As measured in the number of active asbestos exposure lawsuit filings, the U.S. is still experiencing the health consequences of a previous era when information about the dangers of the mineral were allegedly suppressed by those with a vested monetary interest for decades.

With this recent spike in imports, it is foreseeable that the number of asbestos exposure lawsuit filings will increase in the future as workers are diagnosed with mesothelioma and other consequences of inhaling or ingesting the fibrous mineral.

Latent Diagnoses

Asbestos exposure-based cancers develop over an average of 30 years from exposure to diagnosis. This period where embedded fibers lay quiet and do damage that doesn’t lead to attention-getting symptoms for decades is referred to as a latency period.

Unfortunately for those that find themselves in the position of having to consider filing an asbestos exposure lawsuit, this latency period makes it difficult to identify the exact point of exposure and the party responsible for failing to create a safe working environment or safe product. Moreover, families of those who worked with asbestos are also at risk for secondhand asbestos exposure.

While hiring expert asbestos exposure lawsuit attorneys increases the chance of success, limiting exposure to products in the first place through regulatory action at the governmental level is ideal. It remains to be seen whether this abnormal influx will be an ongoing trend or a short-term blip on America’s radar.

The U.S. is one of the few industrialized countries globally that hasn’t entirely banned asbestos-based products. There are 60 countries that have taken the step to block this dangerous mineral outright.