U.S. bans import, use of last allowed form of asbestos

After three decades of attempts, the Environmental Protection Agency has banned the only form of asbestos still in use — part of a family of toxic minerals linked to lung cancer and other illnesses that cause about 40,000 U.S. deaths each year, the agency says.

The EPA on Monday formally prohibited the import and use of chrysotile asbestos, the last type of asbestos U.S. industries use. The ban comes 33 years after a federal judge blocked the agency’s initial attempt to ban the cancer-causing mineral. While the use of asbestos has declined since, it remains a significant health threat.

The agency’s ban targets chrysotile asbestos, also known as “white asbestos,” the only one of the six forms of the mineral still being used in the United States. Resistant to heat and fire, the mineral’s use in the United States is limited to a small number of products, including automotive parts, sheet gaskets and brake blocks for use in the oil industry. Chemical manufacturers have also defended its continued use in making chlorine, which is used in pharmaceuticals, pesticides and to purify drinking water.

Asbestos use peaked in the United States in the 1970s, when more than 800,000 tons were used annually in manufacturing. In recent years, fewer than 1,000 tons of asbestos fiber have been imported annually.

About 70 countries have banned chrysotile asbestos — the United States was one of the few industrialized nations that still allowed it. But efforts by asbestos-exporting countries to preserve the international market have kept the mineral in wide use in developing countries. Russia is the world’s biggest chrysotile producer. China and India are the biggest consumers.

Drexel University Professor Arthur Frank, an expert on the dangers of asbestos exposure, said while the EPA’s new rule is a step forward, other countries have gone much further by banning imports of products containing all types of asbestos.