Washington - It is a move that leaves many stunned: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) under President Donald Trump is planning to reconsider the ban on white asbestos - the last form of the carcinogenic substance still permitted in the United States. This is according to a court filing submitted on Monday. The decision not only implies a potential delay in implementing the ban by several years, but also marks a sharp reversal in a decades-long battle for public health.
White asbestos, also known as chrysotile asbestos, is banned in over 50 countries. Its link to deadly diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma - an aggressive form of cancer affecting internal organ linings - is considered scientifically indisputable. In the U.S., however, the substance has continued to be imported for use in roofing materials, cement products, textiles, as well as brake pads, clutches, and gaskets – most recently, especially for chlorine production. For environmental and health organizations, this was already a scandal. That the E.P.A. is now refusing to uphold even the existing ban is seen as a direct kowtow to industry.
Critics accuse the Trump administration of deliberately catering to the influence of lobbying groups like the American Chemistry Council – at the expense of public health. While other countries have long forced their industries to develop alternatives, the U.S. government clings to a dangerous substance whose handling becomes a lethal threat even during disasters such as the wildfires in California. Back then, it was firefighters and cleanup workers who inhaled asbestos in collapsing buildings – a risk that grows with each loosening of protective regulations. That the E.P.A. would now, under increasing public pressure, choose to retreat, shows: In Trump’s America, science does not count – only profit does.
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