Chrysotile Asbestos: EPA Submits Section 6(a) Rulemaking to OMB for An Honest Review
It all happened on December 16, 2021 when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) finally tend to submit a proposed rule falling under section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the Office of Management Budget (OMB). The proposed bill under the said section happens to be about the control of chrysotile asbestos which comes under the list of toxic substances list banned by the government.
As per the agenda set for 2021, it's very necessary that the proposed section under 6(a) is implemented as it is very much needed to address all kind of unreasonable risks of chrysotile asbestos and related minerals that are bound to be the cause of serious life threatening medical ailments.
And so, the above rule is needed to
be implemented. The dangerous effects of chrysotile asbestos are not unknown as
they were identified in a risk evaluation report that was already completed
under section 6(b).
After the report was out, EPA gauged
the menace of chrysotile asbestos along with its risks, uncertainty of the
mineral, severity of the hazard and other complications.
It was on January 4, 2021 when it was
reported that EPA has found some unreasonable risks directly to human health due
to the below mentioned hazards or risks of chrysotile asbestos:
Consumers and Bystanders: While gauging the risk and menace of chrysotile asbestos, EPA
came to conclusion that there are so many unreasonable risks related to
consumers and bystanders from all such consumer prone uses of chrysotile
asbestos.
And due to such a severe impact of
this mineral on human health, the government ensured agencies to discontinue
most consumer products having the presence of chrysotile asbestos.
But on the other hand consumer
products are found to be still available. These risks include in some products
like automotive brakes/linings and certain type of gaskets that are still being
used widely. Please note that the risk to consumers can directly come from the
inhalation of chrysotile asbestos.
Workers and Occupational Non-Users (ONU): There are some other commercial
risks associated to using chrysotile asbestos (as found by EPA in the
investigation). There are some other consumer products having certain amounts
of chrysotile asbestos like aftermarket automotive brakes/linings, brake blocks,
sheet gaskets, chlor-alkali diaphragms and some other gaskets and vehicle
friction products.
Due to such a life threatening risk
of using chrysotile asbestos in above products, EPA found unreasonable risk to
workers nearby but not those in direct contact with chrysotile asbestos as they
generally employ making products like brake blocks, sheet gaskets, chlor-alkali
diaphragms and other such sophisticated gadgets. It was finally come to the
notice that risks to workers and ONU's can come directly from the inhalation of
chrysotile asbestos.
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