More than 95,000 signatures will be on a petition delivered to Congress tomorrow, urging the EPA to “Ban Asbestos in the U.S. Now, Without Loopholes or Exemptions.” That delivery is timed for Mesothelioma Awareness Day, an effort to bring attention to mesothelioma, a lung disease caused by exposure to asbestos and the inhalation of asbestos particles.
“Each year nearly 40,000 Americans die from asbestos-related diseases, yet imports and use continue,” said Linda Reinstein, President and CEO of Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). “The EPA has been tip toeing around enacting an asbestos ban in the U.S. even though asbestos is a known carcinogen that is legal and lethal.”