By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

There’s a silent killer out there, stalking our U.S. Veterans, even those who served decades ago. You can’t see it, or hear it coming for you, but it’s definitely out there, and can strike without warning. This particular killer isn’t a sniper, terrorist, or saboteur. It’s mesothelioma. And it’s especially lethal for our veterans, as there is no cure for it.

I’ve been told that this type of cancer is one of the most advanced ones that can attack a body. It can lead to struggles to breathe and terrible fatigue. Then there’s organ failure. If you’re lucky, some treatments may be able to ease the pain. Once you get it, survival rates and length of life aren’t encouraging news.

You’d think we’d know better. While asbestos once seemed like a miracle fire retardant and a great source of insulation, its potential side effects seem far more dangerous than any positive benefits this substance once provided. But the battle is far from over.

Despite the dangerous effects of mesothelioma, there are people being put into positions of power that have defended asbestos. Just seven years ago, the EPA engaged in some pretty headscratching policies, according to Melanie Benesh with EWG. She wrote about a Russian company, one of the biggest producers of asbestos and tied to a certain Russian President. Back in 2018, they cheered “the EPA’s recent decision to ‘no longer deal with negative effects potentially derived from products containing asbestos.’”

This is especially disconcerting for those who seek to protect our veterans, given that many of them were exposed to asbestos in their service, according to a report by The Newnan Times-Herald. “During World War II, Georgia was home to several key shipyards, including the massive Savannah and Brunswick yards, where thousands of Liberty ships were built using asbestos-laced insulation. Various military bases relied heavily on asbestos in barracks, aircraft maintenance, and vehicle repair. Veterans serving in these locations, especially Navy personnel, faced constant exposure to airborne asbestos fibers during routine operations.”

Benesh adds that the Russian company “is referring to recent actions taken under the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, the country’s primary chemical law. Asbestos is one of the first 10 substances the EPA is assessing for safety following TSCA’s overhaul in 2016. Although the EPA has not yet made a decision on the safety of asbestos under the new law, recent actions lay the groundwork for the agency to find that asbestos is safe and should remain legal. The new TSCA requires the EPA to consider all uses of a chemical when evaluating it for safety. Despite this clear directive, the….EPA is ignoring key exposures to asbestos in its safety assessment, likely in violation of the law.”

I know this sounds like some Hollywood villain that the hero or heroine would risk their life to expose, but there we have it. That 2018 report by EWG stated “[T]he EPA is excluding most so-called legacy uses from its risk evaluation. That means the EPA is disregarding the safety risks from asbestos lingering in schools, homes and other building materials across the country – even though these uses pose the biggest exposure risk for most Americans. The EPA has also significantly narrowed the kinds of asbestos included in its definition of asbestos. With limited exposures considered and some of the most dangerous exposures to asbestos removed from the agency’s consideration, it’s unlikely that the safety assessment will identify the true risk, making it less likely the EPA will ban asbestos.”

More than 600,000 Georgia veterans live today, who served in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars, well before we got wise to the effects of asbestos. We owe it to them to not only create a national registry of these cases, but to make sure our veterans and those they protected back then don’t have to die because we’ve watered down the toxic substances law.

When John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His “X” account is JohnTures2.