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is asbestos actually still being used or did they ban it

Veteran · · 64 views
Got asked this by my grandson last week and realized I didn't have a straight answer. We all know it's bad but I kept hearing conflicting stuff about whether it's actually banned or just restricted.

Back on the Oriskany we didn't know what we were breathing in. Asbestos was everywhere, insulation, gaskets, brake linings. Navy didn't tell us anything about it. But that was the 70s and 80s.

Now I'm wondering if they actually pulled the plug on it completely or if companies can still use it in certain things. Seems like something that should have been done years ago but you never know with regulation.

Anyone know the actual status on this. Is it still in new equipment or did they finally shut it down.

10 Replies

Veteran
They didn't ban it completely, which still burns me up. It's restricted now but companies can still use it in certain products if they jump through the right hoops. Some brake pads, some gaskets, certain industrial stuff. They basically grandfathered in a bunch of applications and said "okay but you gotta notify EPA first." Real teeth-gritting stuff when you think about how many of us got exposed before anyone cared.

The Navy knew exactly what was going on back in the 70s and 80s. Camp Lejeune had asbestos all over the barracks insulation and nobody said a word to us. Same situation you had on the Oriskany. They knew it was dangerous and they just let us breathe it in anyway. I filed my VA claim in November and I'm still waiting for them to move on it while the clock ticks, so yeah the government's response to this whole thing has been pathetic.

Your grandson asked a good question though. Tell him they finally did something about it in 89 with the EPA ban but it was half-measures. Real regulation would've meant zero tolerance back when we were getting exposed.
Veteran
Yeah the Navy knew what they were doing, they just didn't care back then. Tell your grandson to watch what he's around if he's in any trade work, especially older ships or buildings.
Attorney ✓ Expert Response
Good question and honestly the answer might surprise you.

The U.S. never actually banned asbestos outright. The EPA tried in 1989, issued a comprehensive ban, and then a federal appeals court struck most of it down in 1991. So for about 30 years after that ruling we were in this strange situation where a substance known to cause mesothelioma could still legally show up in new products. Chlorine bleach tablets, some gaskets, certain brake components... it was all technically permitted.

Now there's some newer ground. The EPA finalized a rule in March 2024 under the Toxic Substances Control Act specifically targeting chrysotile asbestos, which is the only type still being imported. That rule phases out remaining commercial uses over the next couple years. So we're finally getting closer to a real ban but we're not fully there yet.

And here's what matters for guys like you from the Oriskany era. The exposure that happened decades ago is what's driving most of the mesothelioma cases being filed today. Latency periods of 20 to 50 years are common with this disease, which is why we're still seeing diagnoses now from work done in the 70s and 80s. The manufacturers who made those gaskets and insulation products knew about the risks going back to the 1930s and 40s. Internal documents we've used in cases going back to my early work in the late 1990s showed that clearly.

If you or someone in your family got a diagnosis, please consult an attorney who handles asbestos cases specifically, because the statutes of limitations and available trust fund claims vary quite a bit depending on your state.
4 found this helpful
Veteran
Yeah that's exactly what I was afraid of hearing. So they didn't actually shut it down, just kind of let it slide. That 1989 ban getting overturned is news to me, figured something that dangerous would've been locked down tight by now. Makes sense why my grandson was confused when I couldn't give him a straight answer. So what changed, if anything, or are we still in that same weird gray area where it can show up in new stuff?
Medical ✓ Expert Response
Your grandson asked a really good question and honestly the answer is frustrating. The U.S. never fully banned it. The EPA tried back in 1989, the Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule, and it actually got overturned in court in 1991. So for decades companies could still use it in certain products.

The good news is there's been recent movement. In 2024 the EPA finally banned chrysotile asbestos, which is the one type still being actively imported and used here, mostly in the chlor-alkali industry. It's a step but it took way too long.

What gets me is that over 60 countries banned asbestos years ago. Canada, most of Europe, Australia. And here we were still importing it into 2024. The CDC estimates around 40,000 Americans die from asbestos-related diseases every year. Those aren't abstract numbers when you're sitting in a waiting room at a VA oncology clinic.

For veterans like yourself, a lot of the exposure concern now is legacy asbestos in older buildings and equipment, not necessarily brand new stuff. But the damage from what you breathed on the Oriskany decades ago is what matters most for your health picture now. Talk to your VA care team if you haven't already connected with them specifically about your service history and exposure timeline, they have programs specifically for this.

And if the stress of all this is weighing on you, talking to someone who understands the veteran and illness experience can really help. Persistent anxiety around this stuff is worth bringing to a counselor who specializes in oncology or chronic illness.
3 found this helpful
Veteran
That's exactly what I needed to hear, Rodriguez. So they've been dragging their feet on this for over 30 years. My grandson's gonna get a real education on how slow government moves when money's involved. At least the 2024 ban on chrysotile is something, even if it took them this long to do the right thing.
Family
they didn't fully ban it here like other countries did, which honestly still gets me... Joe's oncologist said the US only restricted it, so companies can still use it in certain products if they follow rules. your grandson's question is a good one, wish the answer was simpler.
Veteran
Not completely banned in the US which is the frustrating part. They restricted it but companies can still use it in certain products if they jump through enough hoops. Doesn't make much sense to me but that's how it works.

We had no idea what we were breathing on the Oriskany. Insulation around the boiler rooms, pipe wrap everywhere, and nobody said a word about it. Just part of the job. I've talked to a lot of guys from that era and most of us didn't connect the dots until years later when the VA started doing those screenings.

Your grandson asking is actually good. At least the younger generation knows to ask questions about it now. When I was coming up you just did your job and didn't think about what was killing you. The Navy knew though. They had to have known. Records show they knew in the 70s but they didn't pass that information down to the people actually handling the stuff.

EPA banned some asbestos products back in 1989 but that got mostly overturned in court. Now it's this weird patchwork where certain uses are prohibited but others aren't. Doesn't really protect anybody the way it should. Talk to your grandson about checking labels on old brake pads and insulation if he ever works around that stuff, and if he joins the military tell him to ask questions right away if something doesn't look right.
Veteran
Not completely banned, which is the frustrating part. They restricted it heavy but companies can still use it in certain products if they jump through the right hoops. Found this out the hard way when I was asking questions after my diagnosis last June.

The Navy knew exactly what was happening back on the Oriskany. They just didn't tell us. I was hull tech for twenty years and we handled that stuff constantly. Insulation, pipe wrap, all of it. Nobody said a word about the risk. Your grandson needs to know that if he's around old military equipment or buildings built before the 90s, there's still asbestos sitting there in the walls.

What matters now is awareness. Tell him if he's ever working on old ships, old buildings, anywhere near older Navy infrastructure, he needs to ask questions. Don't assume it's been cleaned up. We're finding out at 1400 hours what the people in charge knew back in 1971.

The regulation is weak. That's the reality. But knowledge beats ignorance and that's something we can control.
Veteran
They didn't ban it completely, that's the frustrating part. The EPA restricted it in the 70s and 80s but there's still stuff that can be manufactured with asbestos in it. Certain insulation products, brake pads, some industrial equipment. It's legal if it's "regulated" but regulated doesn't mean safe, just means there's paperwork involved.

I found this out when I was doing my VA claim research back in November. Started digging into what exactly got me sick and the whole thing made me angrier than the diagnosis itself. We got exposed to the worst of it in the barracks at Camp Lejeune from 78 to 82, plus the ship had asbestos everywhere. Pipe insulation, valve packing, fireproofing in the engine rooms. Nobody told us anything about it back then.

Your grandson should know it's still out there in some products but the big difference now is there's actual labeling and safety protocols. We had none of that. Tell him the Navy knew what asbestos did to people way before they admitted it publicly. That's what gets me. They had the research, they knew the risk, and they let us work around it anyway.

The real kick in the teeth is watching other guys from my unit get diagnosed years later. One of my bunkmates from Lejeune got Stage IV last year. If they'd actually banned it back when they should have instead of just "restricting" it, maybe we wouldn't be having these conversations.

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