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EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

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61–70 of 366 posts

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#61
post #17

This makes sense as asbestos only really causes harm when humans come into contact with it. For applications where it is safely enclosed or mixed with another material it may have its uses. I think analysis on a case-by-case basis is the right way to go.

In what cases would you use it where humans wouldn't be in contact with it eventually?

One thought would be as a cement additive in marine applications.

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#62
post #42

Ever seen an ad for "mesothelioma" and wonder what is that about? Its generally law firms looking for people with asbestos related lung cancer (edit: see replies for better description of the illness). The Asbestos particles are so small your body's natural filters don't stop them from getting stuck in your lungs, where they can cause cancer. As this point I can't imagine the insurance liability to start using asbest…

I believe it is actually a cancer of the lining of your thoracic cavity rather than your lungs.

Correct, it's a pleural cancer.

That being said, asbestos poses an even bigger risk of "regular" lung cancer compared to mesothelioma. It really is a formidable carcinogen.

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#63
post #17

This makes sense as asbestos only really causes harm when humans come into contact with it. For applications where it is safely enclosed or mixed with another material it may have its uses. I think analysis on a case-by-case basis is the right way to go.

Isn't that anyways now different, I mean asbestos is dangerous when its in the air but:

> 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.

Therefore if they don't consider effects from having it in the air asbestos is not dangerous anymore? This article must seriously misrepresent the facts, I can't believe that even post-Trump / GOP are this insane.

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#64
post #5

What is happening to the EPA in the US is really unbelievable. How low will the bar get for the polluters in this country, one wonders?

It is not unbelievable, it is the stated stance of the GOP to reduce environmental and health regulations, and they are doing it. It is exactly what we voted for.

a "stated stance"? Show me where?

I call BS.

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#65
post #6
post #2

The risks have been known for years. At this point isn't not pollution or negligence to use it, it's homicide.

120 years give or take 10 years. But the free market is always right. Right ?

Even the Romans knew that you shouldn't buy a slave who had worked in an asbestos mine.

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#66
post #41
post #17

This makes sense as asbestos only really causes harm when humans come into contact with it. For applications where it is safely enclosed or mixed with another material it may have its uses. I think analysis on a case-by-case basis is the right way to go.

Case-by-case analysis is really expensive for a government agency to do. And you know full well that developers will cut corners at any chance they can if the rules are loosened up.

If we banned all uses of harmful substances, many things (e.g. spaceflight) wouldn't be possible (or at least much more expensive) (e.g. most hypergolic propellant used for fine maneuvring e.g. during docking are extremely poisonous - alternatives are being tested but aren't there yet).

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#67
To shed some light on the “thinking from the top”, here’s a quote from a related Snopes article (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/russian-asbestos-trump_fac...):

> Trump once opined, in his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback, that efforts to reduce and regulate asbestos (a material he claimed was “100% safe” once applied) in building construction were part of a mob-lead conspiracy:

>> I believe that the movement against asbestos was led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal. Great pressure was put on politicians, and as usual, the politicians relented.

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#68
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what cases would you use it where humans wouldn't be in contact with it eventually?

One thought would be as a cement additive in marine applications.

What about asbestos and marine wild life?

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not unbelievable, it is the stated stance of the GOP to reduce environmental and health regulations, and they are doing it. It is exactly what we voted for.

So, what exactly happened? The EPA was founded by a republican (Nixon). Yet environmental efforts are now attributed to democrats. And combined with that, is that republicans was to destroy the very org they made? What am I missing out of this? Why did the parties completely change their face?

The political parties did largely switch sides on many issues. As Republicans love to remind people, Lincoln was a Republican and he freed the slaves. Additionally the politicians who opposed civil rights legislation were largely Democrats. http://factmyth.com/factoids/democrats-and-republicans-switc...

Re: EPA is allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what exactly happened? The EPA was founded by a republican (Nixon). Yet environmental efforts are now attributed to democrats. And combined with that, is that republicans was to destroy the very org they made? What am I missing out of this? Why did the parties completely change their face?

The Reagan administration sold the GOP that all government agencies are incompetent.

Whatever the reason, the solution is pretty straight forward: make extensive use of asbestos in every single room of the White House. :)
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