The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that [ asbestos dust ] poses an unreasonable risk of [ lung cancer and mesothelioma ] to both workers and consumers who inhale it, ramping up pressure on the agency to ban the substance.
In a draft risk assessment published this week, the EPA said that workers who inhale [ asbestos dust ] from certain uses of the substance in the Chlor-alkali Industry, chemical production industry, oil industry and automotive industry had risks of lung cancer and mesothelioma.
It also found that consumers who were exposed to [ asbestos dust ] from automotive brakes and linings had these risks.
The analysis comes nearly a year after the agency proposed a rule which it says will limit the use of asbestos. Critics, however, say that the rule could open the door to some uses since it stopped short of banning it.
The [ Environmental Protection Agency ] has said the rule closes a loophole from a 30-year-old law that prevented the agency from limiting the sale of some asbestos products.
This week’s assessment heightened the calls for a ban.
“It is now clear that this [ Environmental Protection Agency ] has no intention of addressing this dangerous, proven carcinogen,” said a statement from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.).
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