US bans final type of asbestos

Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year

Calls for asbestos ban in 2017
"This historic ban is more than 30 years in the making"
(Image credit: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday issued a final rule banning chrysotile asbestos, or "white asbestos," the only form of the cancer-causing mineral still being used in the U.S. Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, the EPA said.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.