Mesothelioma patients, advocacy groups, and public health experts have raised concerns after a recent judicial ruling that halted the implementation of a long-anticipated ban on chrysotile asbestos. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request to postpone the enforcement of the March 2024 rule that would have banned chrysotile asbestos, the only type of asbestos still being imported and used in the United States.
Asbestos has long been known to be the only cause of mesothelioma. Apart from mesothelioma, asbestos exposure can cause many other severe illnesses, including asbestosis and lung cancer. This delay has reignited worries about the nation’s continued reliance on a material many mistakenly believed was banned years ago.
The EPA faced decades of pressure from health advocates and mesothelioma victims and their families to ban asbestos in the U.S. Last March, the Agency finally responded by approving a ban on chrysotile asbestos. The rule brought hope to many that companies would finally stop manufacturing, importing, processing, and commercially using asbestos. While advocates viewed the new rule as falling short of their goals, it still provided immediate and phased compliance deadlines, especially impacting the chlor-alkali industry, the only sector that still brings raw asbestos fibers into the nation.
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