Asbestos Has Been Banned...Right?

2 Apr 2018

It has long been the widely held view that asbestos has been banned in the world of industry due to its highly toxic nature and this is backed up by the fact that asbestos companies like ours exist to make managing the substance safe for everyone concerned. However, whilst the ban is well and truly in place in Ireland, it might come as a surprise that it hasn’t been completely banned in the United States, where it is still used in manufacturing, albeit on a much smaller scale than it used to be.

Reduced Use

At its peak, this once massively used material was consumed at a rate of around 800,000 tons per year in the United States and despite this figure now being nearer to 350 tons per year as recently as 2016, there are many in the asbestos abatement community who are asking “why is it still being used at all?”.

The reason behind the material still being in existence in manufacturing is that US asbestos regulation were altered in 1989 from being completely banned to being allowed for use on a limited basis, thanks to a good deal of lobbying and an Asbestos Ban and Phase Out (ABPO) amendment. This basically meant that any products that had historically used asbestos in their manufacturing could still do so for the time being.

Future Ban?

As things stand, there are 62 countries (including Ireland) that have imposed a complete ban from use in all manufacturing and and construction and whilst a total worldwide ban could and should be achieved one day, it seems that there will be a great deal of legal posturing before that ultimately comes to pass.

At OHSS Safety Consultants we offer a full range of asbestos services including professional asbestos removal, asbestos disposal and asbestos surveys. If you have any questions regarding the subject discussed or you have even the slightest concerns that there is asbestos present in your business premises, then please call us on 01 6905907 or visit our website www.ohss.ie for more details.

It doesn’t pay to take chances with asbestos, so be safe rather than sorry and contact us for a no obligation chat with one of our expert team.

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