Experts from NRDC, APHA and Other Leading Health and Safety Organizations Detailed the Current Threat Asbestos Poses to Americans while the Chlor-Alkali Industry Denies its Continued Danger
Washington, DC — September 13, 2016 — The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), the largest non-profit in the U.S. dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, eliminating asbestos-related diseases, and protecting asbestos victims’ civil rights, today held its 10th Congressional Staff Briefing, focusing on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Panel experts illustrated the pressing need for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include asbestos in the top ten toxins for priority review under the Lautenberg Act.
This educational briefing, titled TSCA Implementation: Prioritizing Asbestos to Protect Public Health and the Environment, underscored the steady upward trend of asbestos-caused deaths and focused on the continued damage caused by asbestos in the absence of a federal ban on uses and imports. Each expert spoke to the present-day threat asbestos continues to pose to American workers, teachers, first responders, and families. Senate Judiciary, Health, and Environmental staffers attended the bipartisan briefing.
The panel of speakers at the briefing illustrated a strong consensus among scientists, advocates, and industry leaders that asbestos must be prioritized in EPA’s TSCA top ten chemicals for review. In fact, the only party to speak out against this position was the chlor-alkali industry, the single biggest consumer of asbestos in the country. In a letter, the American Chemistry Council Chlorine Division urged the EPA to “take the
“The desperate attempt by the chlor-alkali industry—which accounts for 90% of the asbestos used in the U.S.—to protect their ability to use asbestos demonstrates the continued threat to the American workforce,” said Linda Reinstein, President and Co-Founder of ADAO. “In fact, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association wrote a letter urging EPA to prioritize asbestos regulation under TSCA because the auto industry can’t afford the threat it poses to workers.”
“More than 300,000 Americans have died from preventable asbestos-caused diseases since the asbestos industry derailed EPA’s 1989 attempt at a ban,” continued Reinstein. “If the EPA fails to use the Lautenberg Act to regulate this known carcinogen, asbestos will continue to be used and imported into the United States and our country will continue to face an epidemic of asbestos-caused diseases for years to come.”
Key quotes from briefing panelists:
- Mark Catlin, American Public Health Association (APHA)
- In 2009, the American Public Health Association (APHA) adopted the policy resolution calling for the global elimination of asbestos and strong prevention measures.
- Andy Igrejas, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF)
- “The Lautenberg Act’s most important achievement was giving EPA the ability to act on the worst existing chemicals. Asbestos is at the top of that list. If EPA cannot use the new law to ban asbestos, it will suggest that the reform effort failed.”
- Daniel Rosenberg, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- “Even under the ‘best case scenario’ for evaluating and restricting chemicals, it will likely take years for EPA to address even the ‘worst of the worst’ chemicals like asbestos.”
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About the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) was founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004. ADAO is the largest non-profit in the U.S. dedicated to providing asbestos victims and concerned citizens with a united voice through education, advocacy, and community initiatives. ADAO seeks to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure, advocate for an asbestos ban, and protect asbestos victims’ civil rights. For more information, visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.
Media Contact:
Sara Tiano
Media Relations
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)
(310) 251-7477