Asbestos Too Great a Health Risk to Workers, Consumers: EPA

Industrial workers and consumers are among the people who face too much risk of cancer or lung disease if they inhale asbestos, the EPA said in a draft analysis released Monday that contradicts what some industry officials have told the agency.

The Environmental Protection Agency said asbestos and asbestos-containing products is used in six different ways by the chemical, oilfield, and other industries, as well as consumers. All six uses posed too great a risk of causing lung cancer or mesothelioma, the agency said.

Among the too-highly-exposed people are individuals using asbestos-containing parts to fix imported car brakes and ...