It has long been known that inhalation of asbestos fibers leads to many severe, often chronic illnesses. These ailments can be serious: respiratory illnesses, such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma are among some of the most widely reported. Mesothelioma is a rare and often deadly form of lung cancer that has been linked directly to asbestos exposure. There are a host of separate health concerns, including asbestos warts, pleural plaques, and pleural thickening. Pleural thickening refers to the appearance of widespread scarring along the lining of the lungs, and is often seen in mesothelioma patients who have been exposed to asbestos fibers. This exposure often comes from individuals working in close proximity to asbestos; this happens either directly, such as in professions like mining, or indirectly through products containing asbestos. Indirect exposure occurs in industries like those involved in either the manufacture or production of building materials, especially insulation, roofing tiles, Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditiong (HVAC), and flame-retardant materials.

As industry and health officials began to realize the link between asbestos exposure and health concerns, manufacture and production industries made efforts to remove it from their products. It is standard practice in this day and age to assume that none of our construction materials contain asbestos, with very few exceptions. Indeed, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have all instituted strict regulations on the limits to which an employee can be exposed to this material as well as limits to the amount of asbestos a given product can contain. Not only does this keep the number of asbestos-related diseases to a minimum, it also protects the manufacturing and production companies from costly mesothelioma lawsuits that could cost them millions of dollars per settlement.

Recently, the American Public Health Association (APHA) adopted a resolution asking Congress to consider legislation prohibiting the manufacture, sale, import, or export of asbestos-containing products, including products in which asbestos could be or is known to be a contaminant. In a statement, the Chair of APHA’s Occupational Health and Safety section, Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH, said, “With this new policy, APHA is joining the World Federation of Public Health Associations and other international organizations calling for a global ban on asbestos mining, and manufacturing, and the dangerous practice of exporting asbestos containing products.” The APHA hopes to completely eliminate all threat of industrial and commercial asbestos exposure and subsequently reduce the number of deaths from asbestos-related illnesses. Some estimations put the annual American death toll from asbestos at more than 10,000.

This is not the first time legislation has been brought to the table in an attempt to remove asbestos from manufacture and production entirely. In 1989, the EPA effectively banned most asbestos containing products with their Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule. However, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned this regulation in 1991. This new regulation would prohibit targeted products from containing any asbestos, though there are many more products in which trace amounts of asbestos are tolerated.

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