"Exposure to asbestos has proven to result in a wide range of health conditions, including mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, heart, or abdomen. This rare form of cancer is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure." The Mesothelioma Cancer Center explains the current state of federal legislation aimed at resolving asbestos exposure through elimination of the substance at work and in our day-to-day environment:

Obama and McCain: who makes a difference on a couple [of] bills for protection? Big issues have marked this election and have been highlighted at the Democratic National Convention. National health care, national defense, energy policies and the economy seem to rise to the top of importance for most Americans, social issues aside. Regarding health care Barack Obama favors steps toward universal health care while John McCain wants to keep it private. Obama has been talking about a timetable (16 months) out of Iraq and McCain has recently been saying “2013” but his “time horizon” has been all over the place (4-100 years).  Energy policies differ, as McCain want to drill for oil and Obama wants to fill up tires (And oh yeah, invest billions into technology so we are free of foreign oil in 10 years). As far as the economy, it is tax the rich vs. “no new taxes”.  Yes, the election is HEATED. While those are all the platforms in which these politicians wish to get elected, there are other issues could sway one way or the other depending on who is president. Asbestos exposure has been a problem for many years and there are some in congress who are attempting to do their best to eliminate the life threatening insulator for good. And yes, just for clarification, a democratic congress alongside a Barack Obama as president would help the following legislation to pass. Asbestos is now known as one of the great industrial disasters of the 20th century, and it was not until the 1970s that legislation began isolating the problem. It’s now 30 years later and you’ll notice that asbestos exposure, along with the deadly cancer called mesothelioma that can result from it, is still lingering with no signs of going away. So what happened? In short, asbestos was not exactly banned, it was restricted. While these measures paid dividends in a number of ways, they did not magically remove asbestos from older homes and buildings, which can become a problem when remodeling. So the question remains; when are we going to get to the point where asbestos exposure is no longer a dark, lingering issue? A realist would say, or at the very least, not any time soon. There is still so much of it around, that to expect complete removal right away is not possible. Still, there are bills in Congress ready to be passed (potentially) that could tilt our manufacturing industries where it needs to go. The use of asbestos in products and the manufacturing industry could come to a close in 2009 if Senator Patty Murray from Washington has her way. She has introduced the “Ban Asbestos in America Act” that has been passed by the full U.S. Senate. However, the bill does contain a harmful pro-industry amendment eliminating coverage for workers exposed to products containing 1 percent or less of asbestos. The Communications Workers of America and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations will work to have this language omitted in the final Senate-House legislation. This legislation will also authorize additional studies to determine which commercial products today still contain asbestos, increase funding for asbestos-related diseases, and call for a national mesothelioma registry to help public health professionals track this deadly disease. Congresswoman Betty McCollum has introduced the “Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008.” On McCollum’s website she says, “It’s long past time that our country banned asbestos. “After decades of widespread and unknowing exposure to this deadly substance, Americans should be able to rest assured that they are no longer at risk of having their lives cut short by asbestos exposure.”  This legislation is not expected to be passed by the full hHouse during 2008, so this effort is basically groundwork in order to get the bill passed in 2009. The major motivator behind these bills is that asbestos exposure can cause serious lung conditions and deadly cancers such as pleural mesothelioma.