EPA Issues Draft Part 2 of Risk Evaluation for Asbestos for Public Comment
Released on April 15, 2024
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Risk Evaluation for Asbestos, Part 2: Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals of Asbestos for public comment. In part 2, EPA is evaluating legacy uses and associated disposals of asbestos including chrysotile asbestos and five additional asbestos fiber types. Legacy uses are uses where manufacturing, processing, or distribution have ended, but there may still be asbestos present, such as floor and ceiling tiles, pipe wraps, insulation, and heat-protective textiles containing asbestos. EPA has preliminarily determined that disturbing and handling asbestos associated with legacy uses, and asbestos as a whole chemical, poses unreasonable risk to human health.
Asbestos was historically used as a fire retardant in construction in the mid-twentieth century but was also used extensively in diaphragms used to make chlorine and caustic soda, gaskets, brakes, cement water pipes, and in buildings materials such as floor tiles, insulation, shingles, and textured paint, among other uses. Asbestos fibers can get in the air and, if inhaled, into a person’s lungs, which can cause asbestosis (a type of lung disease) and cancer including mesothelioma (cancer of the abdominal lining) and lung, ovarian, and laryngeal cancers.
Under the previous Administration, EPA narrowed the scope of the TSCA risk evaluation for asbestos by only reviewing ongoing uses and excluding legacy uses and disposals. Because only chrysotile asbestos has ongoing uses, other fiber types were not initially considered. However, in 2019, a court ruled that the agency unlawfully excluded “legacy uses” and “associated disposal” from TSCA’s definition of “conditions of use,” resulting in the need to supplement the agency’s initial review of asbestos (“part 1”) with a “part 2” risk evaluation, which focuses on legacy uses and associated disposals.
EPA completed part 1 of the risk evaluation for the ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos in December 2020 and finalized a rule to protect human health from the risks of chrysotile asbestos in March 2024.
The types of asbestos evaluated in part 2 includes chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, actinolite, Libby Amphibole Asbestos (and its tremolite, winchite, and richterite constituents) and asbestos-containing talc. Examples of legacy uses evaluated by EPA in part 2 include asbestos contained in construction materials that may be found in older homes such as in floor and ceiling tiles, pipe wrap, and other insulation containing chrysotile and other asbestos fiber types. In general, people are exposed to asbestos only when the asbestos-containing material is handled or damaged in some way to release asbestos fibers into the air. EPA has preliminarily found that nine conditions of use evaluated in part 2 contribute to the unreasonable risk that asbestos poses to human health. EPA expects that the highest asbestos exposure potential exists for workers involved with cutting, sanding, or grinding asbestos-containing material on a regular basis, such as construction workers who are routinely involved in demolition work. Career fire fighters are also may be at risk. Fires and other emergencies can disturb asbestos material in buildings, and fire fighters responding to those emergencies may be exposed.
These uses of asbestos also pose health risks to people who handle asbestos products, family members of exposed workers who may bring asbestos fibers back home on their clothing, non-professionals attempting do-it-yourself home renovation or other projects involving asbestos-containing materials, and people living near facilities that use asbestos.
EPA’s risk finding does not mean that every person with asbestos-containing material in their house will suffer adverse health effects. When undisturbed, asbestos does not pose unreasonable risk to human health. Learn more about asbestos risks.
Consistent with EPA and OMB guidance on peer review of scientific and technical work products, EPA solicited a letter peer review by independent experts of a white paper detailing the quantitative approach to the human health assessment used in part 2 of the risk evaluation. EPA has used feedback from the peer review of the white paper to inform its draft risk evaluation.
Next Steps
Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, EPA will accept public comments on the draft risk evaluation and associated supporting documents for 60 days via docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0254 at www.regulations.gov. EPA will use feedback received from public comments to inform the final risk evaluation.
EPA will finalize part 2 of the risk evaluation by December 1, 2024. If EPA concludes in the final risk evaluation that this chemical presents unreasonable risk, the Agency will move swiftly to develop measures to protect people from that risk.
EPA will host a public webinar providing an overview of the risk evaluation on May 13, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. ET. There will also be an opportunity for participants to share comments. If you would like to provide a comment during the webinar, please email Chloe Durand ([email protected]) no later than May 7, 2024.