The Status of Asbestos in the United States

The last asbestos mine in the United States closed in 2002. According to the EPA, approximately 3,000 tons of raw asbestos are imported each year to be incorporated into products like roofing materials and coatings, friction products, gaskets and packing. Even more is brought into the country in products manufactured overseas.

Asbestos has been banned or abandoned by manufacturers for use in certain types of products. The EPA provides helpful information on the status of partial asbestos bans in the United States in a concise document available online: EPA Asbestos Materials Bans: Clarification.

In 1973, use of asbestos in sprayed-on fireproofing or insulating materials was outlawed.

In 1975, use of asbestos was disallowed for some forms of thermal insulation.

In 1977, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the use of asbestos in patching compounds and artificial fireplace ash.

In 1979, as a result of negotiations with the CPSC, hair dryer manufacturers voluntarily abandoned the use of asbestos insulation in their products.

In 1989, an EPA rule known as the “Asbestos Ban and Phaseout Rule” initiated a 10-year process that was intended to ban all commercial use of asbestos in the United States. But in 1991, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the rule, finding that the EPA didn’t do enough to show there was no less burdensome alternative to the ban. As explained in the EPA Asbestos Materials Bans: Clarification, the end result was that only six categories of products remained subject to the 1989 ban:

Corrugated paper,
Commercial paper,
Specialty paper,
Flooring felt,
Rollboard, and
New uses of asbestos.

Some of the specific products that the EPA recognizes in its EPA Asbestos Materials Bans: Clarification as not subject to any ban include:

Asbestos clothing,
Asbestos-cement corrugated sheet,
Asbestos-cement flat sheet,
Millboard,
Asbestos-cement shingle,
Roofing felt,
Roof and non-roof coatings,
Asbestos-cement pipe,
Pipeline wrap,
Vinyl-asbestos floor tile,
Automatic transmission components,
Friction materials,
Clutch facings,
Drum brake linings,
Disc brake pads,
Brake blocks, and
Gaskets.

However, asbestos is still imported and used in the United States. In fact, according the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States asbestos consumption was at 820 metric tons of asbestos in July 2010. Seventy-two percent of that asbestos was used in roofing materials, and 90 percent of the total imported asbestos was from Canada.

Though 55 countries have banned asbestos, the United States is not one of them.

Senator Patty Murray has been a long-time advocate of a comprehensive ban on the use and importation of asbestos. Senator Barbara Boxer has been an ally in that fight. Unfortunately, their efforts have not yet been successful. Because we know the terrible toll that asbestos has taken on American workers and families, the asbestos attorneys at Baron and Budd strongly support a comprehensive ban on asbestos use and importation in the United States.

Just because asbestos isn’t seen, that doesn’t mean that it can’t cause mesothelioma or other cancers.