The Congressional staff briefing led by Linda Reinstein of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization highlights the dangers of asbestos exposure, especially for vulnerable populations like children and firefighters. Despite the known risks, including a higher incidence of mesothelioma among firefighters, the EPA has been criticized for inadequately regulating asbestos and failing to provide comprehensive oversight of asbestos in schools and other environments. Attendees expressed concern over the ongoing presence of asbestos in consumer products and infrastructure, urging the need for stricter reporting and regulatory measures.

1. LINDA REINSTEIN
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)
President/CEO and Co-Founder
California
Linda@adao.us
Congressional Staff Briefing
TSCA AND ASBESTOS: EPA’s FAILURE TO PROTECT
PUBLIC HEALTH
September 26, 2018

2. Linda@adao.us
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
ADAO is a registered 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization
and does not make legal referrals.
Education Advocacy CommunityEducation Advocacy Community
www.adao.us

3. Mesothelioma Awareness Day
In honor of asbestos victims, all who have
been exposed, diagnosed with an asbestos-
caused disease, their families, and those
who have passed away.
@Linda_ADAO

4. 13th ADAO
Congressional Staff Briefing
www.adao.us

5. Briefing Dedication
@Linda_ADAO

6. Printed
• Executive Summary
• Speaker Biographies
• Constituents’ Stories
ADAO Briefing Resources
Online
• EPA OIG Reports
• PowerPoint Presentations
• GRAPHIC: “How Small is
Asbestos”
• Referenced Materials
@Linda_ADAO

7. 14 Years. 14 Resolutions.
@Linda_ADAO

10. @Linda_ADAO

12. @Linda_ADAO

13. @Linda_ADAO

14. Pat Morrison
Assistant General President for Health,
Safety and Medicine
International Association of Firefighters

15. NIOSH: “Firefighters in the study had a rate of
mesothelioma two times greater than the rate
in the U.S. population as a whole.”

16. 31 Million Metric Tons
Asbestos Consumption 1900 - 2018

17. 9/11 World Trade Center Firefighter Study

18. Natural and Man-Made Disasters
• 2001 9/11 Terrorist attacks: An estimated 2,000 tons
of asbestos fibers
• 2011 Joplin, Missouri Tornado: An estimated 2,600
tons of asbestos debris
• 2012 Hurricane Sandy: Over 5.6 million cubic yards
of debris removed including asbestos
There is a trend. In 2017 Hurricanes Harvey and Irma caused mass damage.
Levels of asbestos debris are unknown at this time, but these disasters will
continue; and exposure to high levels of asbestos will continue.

19. There is no safe level of exposure to
asbestos, a known carcinogen, and it
becomes especially dangerous when the
microscopic asbestos fibers become
dislodged and airborne.

20. Briefing Takeaways
 According to the NIOSH Firefighter study, “Firefighters
have a rate of mesothelioma two times greater than the
rate in the U.S. population as a whole.”
 There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos, a known
carcinogen, and it becomes especially dangerous when
the microscopic asbestos fibers become dislodged and
airborne.

21. Mesothelioma Patient
Diagnosed in 2011
Mike Mattmuller

22. JUST A REGULAR GUY
diagnosed with Pleural Mesothelioma at the age of 29

23. Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) Surgery

25. Fighting for Today and Our Future

26. Briefing Takeaways
 I am the new face of mesothelioma patients, and I am
only 36—with a baby girl.
 Asbestos is in children’s toys and consumer products in
the United States, confirmed by several independent
investigations in 2000, 2007, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

27. SCOTT FABER, VICE PRESIDENT OF
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, EWG
Congressional Staff Briefing
TSCA AND ASBESTOS: EPA’s FAILURE TO
PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH
September 26, 2018

29. “The movement against
asbestos was led by the
mob, because it was
often mob-related
companies that would
do the asbestos
removal.”

33. Briefing Takeaways
 In the cases of asbestos, Trump’s EPA chose
to exclude from its evaluation many reasonable
foreseeable uses -and many known uses,
including legacy uses.
 No one should be surprised that Donald Trump
and his appointees would seek to keep
asbestos legal.

34. Dr. Raja Flores
Chairman of the Department of Thoracic Surgery
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

35. Source: IJERPH | Global Asbestos Disaster

38. 9/11 Aftermath
World Trade Center
Health Program
• 70,000+ WTC
rescue/recovery workers &
17,000+ community members
monitored and treated
• Over 50% are afflicted with
chronic, exposure-related
conditions, which represents
a 7% increase over last year
• 1,387 have died since the
program’s inception
• New patients diagnosed with
WTC-related cancer 10-15
times every week

39. Briefing Takeaways
 70,000 workers from the World Trade
Center Health Program
 Half chronic conditions
 10-15 new cancers a week
 Asbestos carcinogens is big culprit

40. ROBERT SUSSMAN, FORMER EPA DEPUTY
ADMINISTRATOR AND SENIOR POLICY COUNSEL TO
THE EPA ADMINISTRATOR
Congressional Staff Briefing
TSCA AND ASBESTOS: EPA’s FAILURE TO
PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH
September 26, 2018

41. ASBESTOS IN SCHOOLS – EPA DROPPING THE BALL
ON RUDIMENTARY PROTECTIONS OF KIDS AND
TEACHERS
• The 1986 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) establishes a
nationwide program for safeguarding schools from asbestos exposure
• September 17 report of EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) finds that EPA is
failing in its responsibility to oversee AHERA compliance in 29 states
• OIG report emphasizes that –
Asbestos exposure risk is higher in children because they are more active, breathe at
higher rates and through the mouth, and spend more time closer to the floor where
asbestos fibers can accumulate
• School districts across the US still struggle to provide AHERA protections – with
many reported cases of asbestos exposure due to poorly managed renovations and
repairs

42. ASBESTOS IN SCHOOLS – ONE OF MANY SOURCES
OF EXPOSURE TO LEGACY ASBESTOS PRODUCTS
• Asbestos insulation, wallboards, tiles, roofing, shingles, siding
and other materials are ubiquitous in the built environment
– Offices, homes, factories, commercial buildings are impacted
as well as schools
• Over time, more materials have become damaged and capable of
releasing asbestos fiber
• Legacy asbestos will likely drive death and disease well into the
future
• Yet EPA is doing nothing to address this growing threat and is
refusing to address legacy asbestos exposure in its risk evaluation
• This abdication of responsibility is being challenged in court

43. WILLFUL IGNORANCE – EPA IS POORLY INFORMED
ON CURRENT ASBESTOS IMPORTATION AND USE
• EPA’s TSCA evaluation focuses on asbestos and asbestos-
containing products currently in use
• It has identified several imported products, including brake
materials, rubber sheets for gaskets, tile, and wallpaper, asbestos-
cement pipe and knitted fabrics
• EPA can’t say that these are the only imported asbestos products
now in use
• Nor can it quantify the amounts of imports and describe how
and where they are used and who is exposed
HOW CAN EPA DO A MEANINGFUL RISK EVALUATION
WITHOUT THIS INFORMATION?

44. EPA NEEDS TO REQUIRE MANDATORY
REPORTING UNDER TSCA
• The Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule is EPA’s core tool for
obtaining chemical import, use and exposure data under TSCA
• But this rule exempts asbestos
• ADAO and other groups are today petitioning EPA to add
asbestos to the CDR rule
• We are requesting that EPA require expedited reporting so it has
complete data for its risk evaluation
• The data reported must be made public so we know where and
how asbestos products are being used and in what amounts
• Reporting must be comprehensive and include articles with small
amounts of asbestos since no level of exposure is safe

45. Briefing Takeaways
 The ongoing presence of asbestos in millions of homes,
schools and public and commercial buildings is a serious
public health threat yet EPA has refused to assess these
pervasive sources of exposure in its asbestos risk
evaluation.
 EPA’s knowledge of current asbestos importation and use
in the US is shockingly incomplete and it has exempted
asbestos from mandatory reporting requirements that
would reveal how much asbestos is entering the United
States, where it is going and who is being exposed.

46. @Linda_ADAO

47. @Linda_ADAO
Lobbying for another Exemption

48. Asbestos in Schools Report

49. “Asbestos in Schools Not a Top Priority for EPA”
@Linda_ADAO

50. EPA OIG: “Asbestos exposure risk is higher in children because they are
more active, breathe at higher rates and through the mouth, and more
time closer to the floor where asbestos fibers can accumulate.”

51. EPA OIG: “EPA Region 4 and North Carolina followed
procedures at the Old Davis Hospital site; however,
those procedures did not result in the timely removal
removal of asbestos that posed a potential threat to
threat to human health and the environment.”
@Linda_ADAO

52. The Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act
@Linda_ADAO

53. Petitioners: Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
American Public Health Association
Center for Environmental Health
Environmental Working Group
Environmental Health Strategies Center
Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

54. Briefing Takeaways
 The EPA OIG reported, “Asbestos in Schools Not a Top Priority for
EPA.” It also reported, “Asbestos exposure risk is higher in children
because they are more active, breathe at higher rates and through
the mouth, and spend more time closer to the floor where asbestos
fibers can accumulate.”
 The chlor-alkali industry is the largest asbestos importer and user of
hundreds of tons of chrysotile asbestos.