
EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing (2018) - Geekette
https://archpaper.com/2018/08/epa-asbestos-manufacturing/
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dang
Big discussion from August 2018:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17706551](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17706551)

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_ph_
I am speechless. I can somehow forgive the 60ies and 70ies, when awareness of
the long term effects of certain substances and technologies just started to
build up. It took us long enough to deal with the damages done in those times,
there are still buildings which have to be decontaminated from asbestos and
other harmfull stuff. The ozone layer also is just barely recovering thanks to
the ban of the responsible chemicals.

I also can understand, that banning a substance takes a while for establishing
good alternatives. But once a harmful substance is finally removed from the
production chain, why would one want to bring it back, knowing exactly what
this is?

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CoolGuySteve
I wondered why there's no safe synthetic substitute for asbestos so I looked
it up.

There's a material from the 70s called Zetex made out of fiberglass that's
specifically designed to replace asbestos but I've never heard of it until
now.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zetex_(fabric)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zetex_\(fabric\))

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hanniabu
It probably hurts profit margins, so as far as business are concerned it's
unsafe to them.

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rtkwe
It's hard to tell what the exact effects will be but it sounds like the final
rule was more restrictive?

Also this should have [2018] added.

[https://archpaper.com/2019/04/epa-issues-its-final-
asbestos-...](https://archpaper.com/2019/04/epa-issues-its-final-asbestos-
ruling/)

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marmaduke
How can asbestos be legal and cannibis not?

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keeganjw
Why. Just why. This is so stupid. It's taken decades to make progress on
current abatement efforts. This is only going to make more people sick with
cancer for decades to come. As the article mentions, it's been completely
banned in other countries for since the 1970s. Many alternatives for it's
various uses exist. There is literally no need for this.

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craftyguy
You can't "make america great again" unless you regress.

~~~
hanniabu
There was never any intention to make America great. It was just a phrase used
because it's what people wanted to hear and they ate it up.

~~~
craftyguy
(that's the joke)

