Public health advocates, led by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and The John McNamara Foundation, announced on June 4, 2008 the formation of the Committee to Ban Asbestos in America (CBAA). Asbestos kills more than 10,000 men, women and children every year, CBAA reports. CBAA therefore supports language in a Committee Print before the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment & Hazardous Materials. Linda Reinstein, Chairperson of CBAA, explained: “We are calling on the U.S. Congress and the President to do the right thing and ban asbestos in America and fund critical medical programs. Doctors and scientists agree: asbestos is a carcinogen and that there is no safe level of exposure. Preventing asbestos exposure is the only way to eliminate asbestos caused diseases. Recent ADAO product testing confirmed asbestos is still found in consumer products including toys.” T.C. McNamara, founder of The John McNamara Foundation, added that “asbestos went from being a miracle product to a serial killer which makes this legislation long overdue . . . .”
For more information, see the organizations’ press release.
