EPA Releases Second Part of Asbestos Risk Evaluation Addressing Legacy Uses, Disposal

In November, EPA finalized the second part of its asbestos risk evaluation, supplementing the first part, which was completed in 2020. While the first part addressed only ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the supplementary document evaluates risk to human health and the environment associated with legacy uses of asbestos, disposal of asbestos from legacy uses, uses of asbestos types other than chrysotile, and use of asbestos-containing talc.

The supplemental effort to part one of EPA’s risk evaluation for asbestos stems from a 2019 decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which determined in Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families v. EPA that the agency should not have excluded legacy uses of asbestos and associated disposals or other forms of asbestos from its risk evaluation. To comply with the court ruling, EPA produced the second part of its asbestos risk evaluation.

Legacy uses of asbestos are those with no ongoing manufacture, processing, or commercial distribution in the United States, but which may still cause asbestos exposures due to continued use or disposal. Potential legacy uses of asbestos include in floor and ceiling tiles, pipe wraps, insulation, and other building materials found in older homes. Non-chrysotile forms of asbestos include the five types of amphibole asbestos, which have needle-like rather than curly fibers. In the supplemental evaluation, EPA has determined that disturbing and handling asbestos in legacy uses, as well as asbestos as a chemical substance, poses “unreasonable risk to human health.”

Use of asbestos was formerly widespread in building materials and manufacturing processes. Chronic inhalation exposures to asbestos are associated with severe health effects such as mesothelioma and lung, ovarian, and laryngeal cancers. Chrysotile asbestos was the only form of asbestos known to be imported, processed, or distributed for use in the United States until March 2024, when EPA finalized a rule banning all ongoing uses of the substance. In the risk evaluation for chrysotile asbestos, the agency had determined that continued use of the substance presented unreasonable risk to human health, including to workers and occupational non-users.

According to the executive summary of part two (PDF), legacy uses of asbestos in building materials do not cause exposures if left undisturbed. However, exposures may occur when asbestos-containing materials are disturbed during construction, modification, or demolition by construction workers or do-it-yourself remodelers. Firefighters may also be exposed to asbestos fibers when they enter buildings containing asbestos during emergencies. In part two of the risk evaluation, EPA finds that legacy uses of asbestos in a range of construction and building materials and products, as well as in furnishing, cleaning, and treatment care products and disposal of these materials and products, “significantly contribute to the unreasonable risk of cancer and non-cancer health effects.”

Part two of the asbestos risk evaluation also determines that the risk of severe health effects is unacceptable for all asbestos types and uses, including those covered in part one. EPA explains in the Federal Register notice announcing the availability of part two that the agency considers a single risk determination appropriate “because there are benchmark exceedances for multiple conditions of use” of the chemical throughout its life cycle, from manufacturing to disposal. Part two of the asbestos risk evaluation further explains this decision.

EPA’s webpage on part two of the asbestos risk evaluation provides additional information, as well as links to download a PDF of the second part and many supplementary documents. Information on part one of the risk evaluation and associated risk management actions may also be found on the agency’s website.