EPA Proposes Stricter Asbestos Reporting

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule that would require much stricter reporting and record keeping for all uses of asbestos throughout the past four years. The rule would require companies that manufacture or process asbestos-containing products to report all types of use, quantities of use and exposure-related information, much of which is not currently required. It also includes articles containing unintended impurities, such as talc products contaminated with asbestos fibers. According to the EPA, the data obtained will be used to more accurately guide the agency in future actions. It also will be used in Part II of the ongoing Asbestos Risk Evaluation looking at legacy asbestos and the growing issue of contaminated talc, particularly in cosmetics. “Getting a more comprehensive and complete set of data on how and where this chemical is used is part of EPA’s broader effort to evaluate the health risks from asbestos and, when needed, put protections in place,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, in a press release announcing the proposal. Banning Chrysotile Asbestos In April, the EPA proposed a new rule that would ban the ongoing use of all chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of raw asbestos currently being imported into the U.S. This proposal stemmed from the earlier Part 1 of the Risk Evaluation. The chloralkali industry is the...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Asbestos (general) Source Type: news