Asbestos Use Today
Was asbestos banned?
Many asbestos products were banned in the United States beginning in the late 1970s, but some of these laws have since been overturned and manufacturers claim to have developed procedures designed to protect workers who make or use these products.
Asbestos use has been banned in many countries, including the European Union, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand. But, in the United States asbestos is still used in construction materials and other industrial applications.
In 1991, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals prevented the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from banning asbestos. EPA research showed that banning asbestos would cost $450 million to$800 million and only save about 200 lives. The court ruled that the EPA did not provide enough evidence about the safety of alternative products. So, while regulated, asbestos is still not banned in the United States.
Where asbestos is still used
Asbestos products still in wide use include pipeline wrap, vinyl-asbestos tile, millboard, asbestos-cement corrugated sheet and flat sheet, asbestos-cement pipe, roofing felt, and asbestos-cement shingles. Distribution of asbestos in products is roughly as follows:
- Cement products = 70%
- Floor tile = 10%
- Paper/textile = 10%
- All other = 10%
Other uses of asbestos are not well recognized:
- The solid-fuel boosters on the space shuttle have asbestos-impregnated rubber liners to protect the steel cases from the heat of take-off.
- Fibrous mats woven of asbestos are a key component in the onboard electrolytic cells that generate oxygen in submarines.
- A large portion of the chlorine used for bleach, cleansers, and disinfectants is manufactured by a process that depends on asbestos products.
- Asbestos-cement pipe and sheets are still widely used in ventilation, water, and wastewater systems and as wall panels. Enough asbestos-cement pipe has been used in the United States since 1930 to circle the earth eight times over and still run to the moon and back.
Are there effective asbestos replacements?
An ideal asbestos replacement has not been found, but these materials are used as substitutes:
- Fiberglass, stone, and glass wool used for insulation
- Cement products reinforced with organic fibers, regular Portland cement, or silica
- Ceramic fibers
- Minerals such as gypsum, calcium silicate, perlite, rock wool, mineral wool, diatomaceous earth, graphite, and metal chips
- Stone fibers used in gaskets and friction materials
- Cellulose, textiles, wood fiber, and resins treated with flame-retardant chemicals such as bromine, phosphorus, chlorine based compounds, and metal hydrates such as alumina trihydrate and antimony oxide
- Synthetic fibers with extremely high melting points
Research is ongoing as science continues to seek more effective asbestos replacements.