According to the Huffington Post, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins Jr. concluded that the EPA allowed the use of unsafe handling of asbestos while demolishing buildings. During testing in Texas and Arkansas in 2006 and 2007, EPA employees and contract workers were exposed to the toxic material.
The EPA had been conducting a study on an alternative demolition method for asbestos-containing buildings that was aimed to be quicker and cheaper. This now-deemed unsafe method circumvented the EPA's 1973 law that requires the removal of the toxic compound before demolition takes place. Here are some facts about asbestos and recent findings of contamination:
* The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that asbestos are naturally occurring minerals and fibers cannot be seen with the naked eye, making them easily inhaled without knowing.
* The fibers can cause scar-like tissue to building up in the lungs, leading to the loss of lung function, other disabilities, and even death.
* Asbestos-related illnesses and diseases are most common among people who have worked with high levels of asbestos over an extended period of time without any type of breathing protection, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
* Before the health impacts were known, asbestos was used more than 3,000 different products ranging from ceiling tiles to brake pads to protective clothing due to it's affordability and flame-retardant properties.
* In 1989, the EPA issued a ban on most products containing the hazardous compound, but the rule was overturned in 1991 by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
* Although some asbestos items are banned, such as flooring felt and paper, the EPA does not have a full ban on all asbestos-containing products and products like millboard and roof coatings can include the material.
* The EPA found the material in a park in North Little Rock, Ark., but are now searching other nearby places, including a school, to determine is the contamination is more wide spread, noted Fox News.
* So far the agency has taken about 600 different samples and confirmed that an old processing plant, two homes, and the park have elevated levels.
* An article from the Associated Press noted that Libby, Mont., is the nation's deadliest Superfund site in which at least 400 residents have died from asbestos-related illnesses from the nearby vermiculite mine.
* Another 1,500 locals and other individuals have confirmed cases of lung damage from exposure and in June of 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson declared a health emergency.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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