Global Consensus that Asbestos Must Go

Back in 1989, when the US EPA issued rules to phase out the use of asbestos in almost all products, the US was a leader in moving to ban the manufacture and importation of asbestos products. The EPA rule was overturned in a court challenge, and EPA was unable to persuade the Justice Department to appeal the ruling. Nothing has been banned since 1991 under the Toxic Substances Control Act, and asbestos products continue to be manufactured and imported for use here.

European Asbestos Ban

European countries took the lead in issuing national bans on asbestos use in the 1990s and enacted a ban throughout the (now 27) countries in the European Union that came into effect in 2005.

Asbestos is also now banned in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, Japan, the Seychelles, New Caledonia, and Gabon. Egypt, Croatia, Vietnam, South Korea, and South Africa are moving to end their consumption of asbestos products.