Asbestos Regulation in United States

Unlike the United Kingdom (ban 1999), Australia (ban 2003) or France (ban 1997), the United States has never enacted a comprehensive federal ban on asbestos. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attempted a full ban in 1989 under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated most of it in 1991. Today, six categories of asbestos products remain explicitly prohibited by the EPA, while other uses persist under a patchwork of sector-specific regulation.

Despite the absence of a full ban, asbestos use in the US has declined dramatically since its peak in the 1970s. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces strict permissible exposure limits (PELs) of 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre (f/cc) as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with a short-term excursion limit of 1 f/cc over any 30-minute period. The EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) classify asbestos as a known human carcinogen.

The regulatory environment is multi-agency: OSHA governs workplace exposure; the EPA administers environmental and product controls (including AHERA for schools and NESHAP for demolition/renovation); the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) covers mining operations; and state agencies often add additional requirements. In 2024, the EPA finalized a ban on chrysotile asbestos — the last type still in active US commerce — under TSCA Section 6(a), a milestone that moves the US closer to the standard already in place in over 50 countries.