In an about-face following public backlash from the scientific and patient advocacy communities – along with the general public – President Donald Trump and his administration announced plans to maintain the United States’ recently enacted ban of chrysotile asbestos.
Last month, the Trump Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated in a court filing it would review the merits of the ban and reconsider whether it should apply to all industries, potentially creating a more lackadaisical regulatory status for asbestos such as the one used prior to 2024 of case-by-case reviews for any desired use of the mineral.
After public backlash, the EPA is changing course and seemingly keeping the ruling intact.
“The agency has further reconsidered,” the EPA said in the filing in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, as reported by the New York Times.
“This latest move by the EPA is yet another alarming signal that this administration is operating without limits as they dole out favors to polluter lobbyists without regard for the health and well-being of people living in the US,” Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit organization, said, as reported by the Associated Press.
Details of the Ban
The EPA, under President Joseph Biden, announced the initial ban in March 2024. The ban makes illegal the manufacturing, import, and sale of chrysotile asbestos.
Chrysotile asbestos is one of six types of the deadly mineral asbestos, which can cause cancer. It is the most common type, the one most often used in trades such as construction and automobile repair, and the only one still being imported into the U.S. as of 2023 from countries such as Brazil.
The ban allows for some industries up to a dozen years to find suitable replacements to asbestos.
Chlorine production companies use asbestos to make diaphragms, which are integral to producing chlorine to disinfect water. Only eight chlor-alkali factories still use asbestos, and they have 5 years to transition.
The ban announced in 2024 also allows:
- 5 years to transition away from asbestos-containing sheet gaskets used to produce titanium dioxide and process nuclear material
- Asbestos-containing sheet gaskets to be used through 2037 at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site to ensure nuclear materials are disposed of safely and on schedule
- Just 6 months to transition from using asbestos in oilfield brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, other vehicle friction products, and other gaskets
More About Asbestos
Asbestos is a mineral found in the earth’s soil. It was prized during the 20th century for resisting heat and durability, making building parts more stable and capable of resisting fire damage.
Asbestos was added to paint, siding, roof shingles, floor tiles, cement, textiles, insulation and more. It was also an insulant around electrical wiring, sockets, switchboards, panels, toaster ovens, gaskets, brake pads and other appliances and vehicle parts that generate or attract heat.
In homes and office buildings, asbestos was commonplace in walls and floors. In plants and factories, the mineral was prevalent in machinery. In military ships and aircraft, it was nearly everywhere. The former World Trade Center buildings contained hundreds of tons of asbestos.
Production and use of asbestos materials peaked during the 1950s-1970s. In the 1980s, the scientific community publicized research connecting asbestos to deadly diseases like lung cancer and mesothelioma. The latter is a rare type of cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs, abdominal cavity or heart.
Asbestos is made of many tiny fibers woven together like a blanket. It becomes dangerous when those fibers break apart.
Since the fibers are so tiny and weightless, they stay suspended in the air for hours. If anyone in the area – a construction or renovation worker, a home resident, an office worker – breathes in or swallows those fibers, they can develop cancer. The fibers can get stuck in tissue on or near the lungs or other organs.
Drop in Use of Asbestos in 1980s
Starting toward the end of the 20th century, after the public learned asbestos could be dangerous, lawsuits began coming in against the companies that manufactured and used asbestos all those years. Government regulations started in an effort to minimize the use of the mineral without banning the substance.
This led to a dramatic shift. By the 1990s, most companies switched to alternatives or went bankrupt from the lawsuits.
However, some industries – notably, chlorine production and aftermarket automobile repair – continued using asbestos for its noted qualities and affordability. This meant that while the use of asbestos cratered, it was never entirely a thing of the past, and people could still be exposed and develop deadly diseases.
The ban announced in 2024 would put a stop to all ongoing and new uses in the United States – leaving legacy asbestos in old homes and other buildings as the only footprints left of a bygone industry.
The EPA’s decision to keep this ban ensures this trajectory continues.
Photo credits: Image by DT phots1 / Shutterstock.com Asset id: 2601223689
Sources & Author
- Trump Administration, Reversing Itself, Won’t Rewrite a Ban on Asbestos. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/climate/asbestos-ban-trump.html. Accessed: 07/09/2025.
Sources & Author
