(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The National AFL-CIO is applauding the Biden Administration’s rule to protect Workers by banning the use of Chrysotile Asbestos.

In a released statement the National AFL-CIO said:

(This) ground-breaking rule by the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) is the first final rule to protect Workers under the amended Toxic Substance Control Act.

This action once more shows the deep commitment of the Biden Administration to ensure Working People remain safe and healthy on the job.  

This rule is a landmark protection for Workers, banning and phasing out all current uses and imports of Chrysotile Asbestos and eliminating these exposures in workplaces and throughout the supply chain.

While a critical step forward, this does not eliminate all types of Asbestos fibers and is only the first half of the EPA’s plans to address Worker Asbestos exposures, including the tens of thousands of Workers - many Firefighters, Construction and Manufacturing Workers - exposed to “legacy” Asbestos throughout our old buildings and infrastructure.

We urge the EPA to move swiftly to address those risks as well. 

Unions have been sounding the alarm about this dangerous substance for decades.

(This) action will undoubtedly save lives and prevent countless exposures that endanger Working Families. 

We applaud the Administration for its unrelenting focus on making workplaces safer so that families can have confidence that when loved ones go to work they will return home safely at the end of their shifts. 

The ban on ongoing uses of Asbestos is the first rule to be finalized under the 2016 amendments to the Nation’s Chemical Safety Law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which received near-unanimous support in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

The action marks a major milestone for chemical safety after more than three decades of inadequate protections and serious delays during the previous Trump Administration to implement the 2016 amendments.

Exposure to asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer, and it is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Ending the ongoing uses advances the goals of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, a whole-of-government initiative to end cancer as we know it.

For More On This Labor News Report, Go To: Biden-Harris Administration finalizes ban on ongoing uses of asbestos to protect people from cancer | US EPA