Senate Bill Aims to Create Online Database of Asbestos Products

Despite the almost 10,000 lives a year claimed by asbestos-related diseases in the U.S., products legally containing asbestos continue to pass through our country’s borders. Legislation introduced this week will make public where these products are ending up. U.S. senators Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sponsored the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act to amend the Asbestos Information Act of 1988 by establishing a public database of asbestos-containing products. “The Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act will modernize the reporting requirements of the Asbestos Information Act to ensure that Americans have transparent, accessible and up-to-date information about the identities and known locations of asbestos-containing products,” Markey's website shows. Giselle Barry, press director for Markey, told Asbestos.com the amendment was sent to the Committee on Environment and Public Works and both senators are committed to gaining bipartisan support for it. Markey and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., last week also introduced the Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act which amends the Toxic Substance Control Act. Their bill seeks to ban asbestos in the U.S. and calls for stronger safety standards and quicker safety reviews of chemicals. Alan Reinstein, former president of Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), died of mesothelioma in 2006. Studies show asbestos causes mesothelioma, a rare...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Tags: Legislation, Laws & Litigation Source Type: news