Is there an acceptable level of asbestos use?

Our plain-English summary of Is there an acceptable level of asbestos use?, by A. van Dorn (The Lancet. Respiratory Medicine, 2019).

The study

• Author: A. van Dorn
• Journal: The Lancet. Respiratory Medicine
• Published: 2019;7(2):112-113
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a news feature from the Spotlight section of The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, not a research study, and it reported no new data. The author described a proposal announced by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 11, 2018. It would require manufacturers to notify the EPA of new asbestos-containing products in several categories not currently made or sold in the USA, such as roofing paper and tiles, tapes and floor tiles. Critics, the article reported, contend the rule tacitly encourages more production of asbestos products that are not outright banned. It cited a 2017 Environmental Working Group estimate that 15 000 Americans die from asbestos-related conditions each year. Dr Philip Landrigan was quoted as saying that no level of asbestos exposure is safe. Dr Richard Lemen was quoted as saying that without a complete occupational history, the role of asbestos can be missed. The article noted that asbestos-linked diseases can appear 20, 30 or 40 years after exposure, and that Sweden was the first country to ban all asbestos uses, in 1986. It ended with Lemen's view that no safe level has been identified.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: News feature (Spotlight section) reporting on a US regulatory proposal and quoting experts; not original research
• Exposure: Asbestos and asbestos-containing products in the USA, in the context of an EPA proposal requiring notification of new asbestos-containing products in categories such as roofing paper and tiles, tapes, and floor tiles
• Main results:
  • The EPA announced a proposed new-use rule for asbestos products on June 11, 2018
  • Critics contend the rule tacitly encourages increased production of asbestos products that are not outright banned
  • A 2017 Environmental Working Group estimate (cited, not produced by this article) put US deaths from asbestos-related conditions at 15 000 per year
  • Dr Philip Landrigan was quoted as saying that no level of asbestos exposure is safe
  • Dr Richard Lemen was quoted as saying that without a complete occupational history the role of asbestos can be missed
  • The article stated that lung cancer, mesothelioma and other asbestos-linked conditions can appear 20, 30 or 40 years after exposure
  • Sweden was the first country to ban all uses of asbestos, in 1986. The article said differences in mesothelioma and lung cancer rates compared with countries that banned it later or not at all would only now begin to be seen
• The authors' conclusion: The article does not state a conclusion of its own; it closes with Dr Richard Lemen's view that, on current information, no safe level of asbestos exposure has been identified

Related studies

• Low-level toxicity of chemicals: No acceptable levels? — B.P. Lanphear (2017)
• Revising the British Occupational Hygiene Society asbestos standard: 1968-1982 — M. Greenberg (2006)
• Low level exposure to asbestos: is there a cancer risk? — J.M. Davis, J.C. McDonald (1988)
• Based on available data, can we project an acceptable standard for industrial use of asbestos? No — A. Englund (1979)
• Based on available data, can we project an acceptable standard for industrial use of asbestos? Absolutely — K. Robock (1979)
• Based on available data, can we project an acceptable standard for industrial use of asbestos? Perhaps — S. Samuels (1979)

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