Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog
There is a degree of uncertainty over the future of various environmental regulations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the new Donald Trump administration. Still, the agency recently selected its first 10 chemicals to review under the newly-enacted Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act for the 21st Century. This was the first major change to the nation’s 1976 toxic materials law since the original bill was enacted nearly 40 years ago.
The measure allows the EPA to perform a review on a number of chemicals the agency selects to determine if they should be banned. For the purposes of this act, asbestos is considered a chemical since it is a naturally occurring mineral made up of six different types of silica elements. According to a recent news article form the Environmental Working Group, the EPA chose asbestos and the other nine chemicals based upon the fact they are all considered highly hazardous to humans. Other chemicals on the list include PERC (used in dry cleaning) and TCE (featured in the movie and book “A Civil Action). Continue reading