Over the last few decades, asbestos has become well-known as a cancer-causing agent, or carcinogen. In 55 other countries, the use of asbestos is entirely banned. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has, over the years, attempted to regulate it. Though it has never been completely banned in the U.S., the toxic material has been heavily regulated, and very few asbestos uses are still legal.

However, the EPA may now be easing up on its regulations, allowing more asbestos uses and the toxic material to be more widely available once more. A concern is rising over the potential harm this could cause. According to a Popular Science article, the agency’s new plan is to keep track of every time a manufacturer wants approval for new asbestos uses.

Indeed, the current administration’s EPA has begun making formerly stringent regulations on dangerous things like pesticides, air pollution, and coal-fired plants much more lenient. With this in mind, environmental groups worry that the EPA’s review of new potential asbestos uses may actually be a method of rolling back regulations and pushing asbestos back into manufacturing. This is in contrast with the EPA’s goal during the Obama administration, which was pushing for a total ban on all asbestos uses in the U.S.

According to Melanie Benesh, a legislative attorney for the Environmental Working Group, asbestos was one of the first substances targeted by Congress’s Toxic Substances Control Act back in 1976. The act was meant to “comprehensively regulate chemicals and toxic substances that we come into contact with every day.” Why was asbestos so heavily targeted? “Because it’s one of the toxic substances that everyone has heard of and knows is bad, it’s become a poster child for this law and why it is broken,” Benesh told Popular Science.

In June 2017, the EPA released its new plan to regulate asbestos uses. Unfortunately, these guidelines only apply to new asbestos uses, and actually allow old sources of the chemical, such as old schools or other old buildings, to remain unregulated.

“They’re only going to look at a very narrow use for asbestos and ignore that people might be exposed to it from older cases,” says Rena Steinzor, an environmental law professor at the University of Maryland, speaking to Popular Science.

Background of Asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that used to be popular for commercial purposes such as electrical or building insulation, as well as countless others. However, the material is now known to be hazardous, and regulations regarding the use of asbestos have been in place for decades. Asbestos exposure can cause several serious health problems, including lung and mesothelioma cancer.

In many cases, cancer can take decades for symptoms to appear, so it is often diagnosed when it has reached its later and more dangerous stage of development. Even though asbestos uses have been heavily regulated in the last few decades, this delay means that those exposed to asbestos decades ago are only now being diagnosed with life-threatening cancer.

Filing an Asbestos Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with or died from an asbestos-related disease like lung cancer after occupational asbestos exposure, you may be able to file an asbestos lawsuit.

While filing an asbestos lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by side effects of the dangerous chemical, or bring a loved one back to life, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical bills and lost wages.