BANNED ASBESTOS PRODUCTS

Sixty countries have banned asbestos products within their borders, but not the United States

Despite the fatal illnesses already linked to asbestos exposure, and the EPA's valiant efforts to ban asbestos, the United States still has not banned all asbestos-containing products from the commercial market.

Banned asbestos products, an update

June 17, 2010 – At least 60 countries have totally banned asbestos products, but the United States is not one of them thanks to lobbying efforts by powerful asbestos product manufacturers that resisted such efforts up to now.

In 1977, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of asbestos in construction materials. However, as the ban applied only to the manufacturing of new supplies, existing stocks of asbestos-tainted building products continued to be used until the mid-1980s.

In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried to ban asbestos-containing materials entirely. But asbestos-product manufacturers sued to have the ban overturned. They succeeded in 1991, when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans revoked the ban.

After this ruling, the ban was reduced to just six types of asbestos-containing materials. They are: flooring felt, commercial paper, corrugated paper, rollboard, and specialty paper. Lastly, the regulation continues to ban the use of asbestos in products that have not historically contained asbestos.

The two main bodies of law that govern asbestos in the United States are The Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), otherwise known as Code of Federal Regulations Title 40: Protection of Environment, Part 763.

Asbestos is no longer mined in the United States. However, it is still imported and used in construction and automotive products. Automotive asbestos exposure is still a very real threat in the United States.

Legal options

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, chances are you contracted the illness through an job-related exposure years ago.

Mesothelioma cancer, for example, has a latency period that can last decades before any symptoms of mesothelioma occur, making for a diagnosis that often comes too late for surgery.

About 10,000 people die of asbestos-related diseases every year in the United States.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a legal force in this field, having protected the rights of asbestos-injured workers for 25 years. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for workers diagnosed with job-related mesothelioma.

Protect your family’s financial future today. Obtain a free and confidential consultation with the communication form here. Please know, there is no cost at all until we obtain a verdict or settlement in your favor.