Still No Asbestos Ban in the US

Although medical evidence in the 1930s linked asbestos exposure to mesothelioma, the federal government didn’t pass legislation limiting exposure until the 1970s. More guidelines were issued the following decade.

The UK banned all asbestos containing products in 1999.

Asbestos is still not banned in the United States. A 1989 ruling issued by the Environmental Protection Agency banning most asbestos-containing products was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in 1991 under pressure from the asbestos industry. Although it is still a legal commodity that appears in many building and common household products, asbestos use has declined considerably in the U.S.

The last U.S. asbestos mine closed in 2002, ending more than a century of the country’s asbestos production. And although the United States has always been a major importer of asbestos, historically providing only a small percentage of the world’s supply, it was always the world’s largest consumer.

Several bills in Congress have sought to create the first national mesothelioma registry as well as renewed interest in banning asbestos. However, in June 2018, the EPA announced that it would consider new uses of asbestos.