Civil lawsuits involving asbestos and its signature injury mesothelioma have been ongoing for more than three decades and there is no foreseeable end in sight. This is so because unlike many other injuries, mesothelioma may take up to 50 years before its symptoms begin to show in someone who has been exposed to asbestos.
Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency did not ban the use of asbestos in the United States until 1989 in spite of the fact that asbestos lawsuits have been filed since 1929. The dangers associated with asbestos and their relation to the contraction of mesothelioma have been known for decades. That’s primarily how legal theories of negligence have been articulated so that those who’ve been injured by asbestos exposure are able to sue the manufacturers of asbestos.
While asbestos-related products are ubiquitous, many people were exposed as a result of their work in the US shipyards, especially after World War II.
EPA asbestos regulations fall primarily under the authority of two different federal laws and
their resulting implementations:
– the Clean Air Act (CAA) (e.g., Asbestos National Emission Standards for Hazardous
Air Pollutants, or NESHAP) rules, and
– the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (e.g.,Asbestos Ban and Phaseout) Asbestos
rules.