Posted on December 7, 2022

The following statement is from Linda Reinstein, President and Co-Founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an independent nonprofit dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure through education, advocacy, and community initiatives in response to ProPublica’s detailed investigative report, Workers Across America Break Their Silence on Decades of Asbestos Exposure, that recounts how a Janitor was exposed to lethal asbestos fibers for decades, putting them and their family at risk of deadly asbestos-caused disease, at the hands of Olin Chemical Corporation. 

“A meaningful asbestos ban is decades overdue and ProPublica’s latest reporting is yet another example of unnecessary asbestos exposure, illness, and death.

More than 40,000 Americans die from asbestos-related diseases each year. The story shared by ProPublica is just one of thousands of stories detailing unnecessary suffering and illness, and is a reminder as to why we desperately need Congress to ban deadly asbestos. 

The chlor-alkali industry, whose reliance on this deadly chemical at only a handful of plants, is the sole reason thousands of tons of raw asbestos continue to be imported and used in the United States. They are responsible for the large majority of asbestos-related deaths in the U.S. 

Currently, there are only three companies who continue to import and use asbestos: Olin, OxyChem, and Westlake Corporations. They continue to put workers, their families, and the surrounding communities at risk for deadly disease and death from asbestos exposure. 

Congress has the opportunity to stop these unnecessary deaths by passing the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN), which will put an end to life-threatening asbestos use, hold the chlor-alkali industry accountable, and end this nightmare. For years the chlor-alkali industry has been transitioning away from asbestos, but despite the readily available, safer, and economically profitable alternatives, they refuse to fully abandon their asbestos. We can’t afford to wait any longer —  they must join us and propose a credible timeline for converting all plants to non-asbestos technology.

Congress knows what it must do and these heartbreaking personal stories only further underline why they must move expeditiously to end this man-made disaster and protect public health.”

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Read the full article from ProPublica: Workers Across America Break Their Silence on Decades of Asbestos Exposure,

Founded in 2004, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is the largest independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure to eliminate asbestos-related diseases through education, advocacy and community initiatives.