EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

[Blue_Adept]

whoa whoa whoa there, tex...

https://archpaper.com/2018/08/epa-asbestos-manufacturing/

One of the most dangerous construction-related carcinogens is now legally allowed back into U.S. manufacturing under a new rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On June 1, the EPA authorized a “SNUR” (Significant New Use Rule) which allows new products containing asbestos to be created on a case-by-case basis.

According to environmental advocates, this new rule gives chemical companies the upper hand in creating new uses for such harmful products in the United States. In May, the EPA released a report detailing its new framework for evaluating the risk of its top prioritized substances. The report states that the agency will no longer consider the effect or presence of substances in the air, ground, or water in its risk assessments.

This news comes after the EPA reviewed its first batch of 10 chemicals under the 2016 amendment to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which required the agency to continually reevaluate hundreds of potentially toxic chemicals to see whether they should face new restrictions or be removed from the market. The SNUR greenlights companies to use toxic chemicals like asbestos without thinking about how it will endanger people who are indirectly in contact with it.

Asbestos, once seen as a magical mineral, was widely used in building insulation up until it was banned in most countries in the 1970s. The U.S. is one of the only developed nations in the world that has placed significant restrictions on the substance without banning it completely. New data revealed that asbestos-related deaths now total nearly 40,000 annually, with lung cancer and mesothelioma being the most common illnesses in association with the toxin. That number could rise if new asbestos-containing products make their way into brand new buildings.

There's some subplot to this in the tweet thread too with:

Link to tweet

[sellitman]

1. There are no words left.

There is no end to his evil.

[Girard442]

2. So, somewhere in his construction past, Trump was inconvenienced by asbestos regulations.

So now he's working at wiping them off the books.

What's next? Promoting the idea that workers should occasionally die by being crushed under a load of falling bricks?

[Liberal In Texas]

3. Good Grief! And the Siberian Candidate's PICTURE is on the f'ing package!

I have been present for the depositions of many mesothelioma patients. The cancer caused by asbestos exposure is a terrible way to die.

This needs to be viral.

[Blue_Adept]

4. That was the part that just made it hilarious

The obviousness of it all and how little impact it makes on people.

[Liberal In Texas]

5. Kick