Asbestos has finally been banned in the United States...

[JohnRBaker]

I suspect that many people had assumed that asbestos had already been totally banned...

EPA Bans Asbestos, A Deadly Carcinogen Still In Use Decades After Partial Ban

The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a landmark 2016 law.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/epa-bans-asbestos_n_65f8604be4b0defe9b27cd66

An excerpt from the above item:

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products and that kills thousands of Americans every year.

The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a landmark 2016 law that overhauled regulations governing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products, from household cleaners to clothing and furniture.

The new rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only ongoing use of asbestos in the United States. The substance is found in products such brake linings and gaskets and is used to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[dik]

They're a decade or two behind Canada and the EU...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[hokie66]

2018 in Canada.

 

[dik]

I'll check, Hokie... I think it was earlier than that. I've been flagging it for over a decade.

My apologies... you're correct.

"Asbestos was heavily used in Canada until 1980. Starting in 1981, the government introduced a number of regulations and measures to reduce use of asbestos. From there, we saw a sharp drop in the number of asbestos containing materials produced after 1981. Unfortunately, it is still quite common to find asbestos in houses built after 1981. Just recently, LCS Laboratory found asbestos in floor tiles collected from a house built in 1985. My guess is, that a contractor used an old stock of supplies. We also observed a possible case of asbestos in 1990s popcorn ceiling, but the building was much older, so it is not clear where the asbestos came from. The final ban on use of asbestos in Canada came only in 2018 ."

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[hokie66]

It's a long-lasting material, forever really. Older buildings all over the world will frequently have asbestos. There is currently a big issue in both Sydney and Brisbane with asbestos contaminated garden mulch. Where did it come from? Most likely fragments of building materials mishandled during demolition of old buildings.

 

[dik]

Like a rock? When I was a kid, I used to have a couple of samples of asbestos in my 'rock' collection. My grandfather used to have four samples from HBMS (mining company) that I thought were neat. So I wrote to a dozen or so mining companies to see if they had any samples. I was inundated with 'rocks'. I started out in Geological engineering, but switched in 3rd year.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[JohnRBaker]

In 2015 we had a new furnace and AC system installed, replacing the original equipment from when the house was built in 1978. This included all new duct-work. When they quoted us the job, they informed us that houses built in that era, the duct-work probably contained asbestos and this work, removing the old duct-work and thoroughly cleaning the house, had to be done by a licensed abatement company, which added a few extra thousand dollars to the final cost. Also, we had to stay at a hotel for a couple of days so that they could make sure that all of the asbestos had been removed from the house before we returned.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[dik]

When I converted my house heating from Coal (gravity feed) to Gas about 20 years back. All the heating pipes were encased in asbestos with a coating. I wetted it down and bagged it to remove it. The only tricky part was using a cutting torch so close to the wood floor joist. Many of the pipes were 4" dia.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik