The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) all recognize asbestos as a cancer-causing agent. Since the early 1970s, the EPA and OSHA have tried to pass asbestos laws to ban or limit the use of this deadly material.

Many asbestos producers began pressuring the U.S. government to prevent any asbestos laws that would limit or ban asbestos use because they feared loss of profits.

As a result, government agencies like the EPA and OSHA were forced to back down from trying to pass any asbestos laws throughout the 1970s and 1980s. During that time workers continued being exposed to this toxin.

The EPA announced in 1989, after a ten-year study, that it would phase out and ban almost all products containing asbestos. However, in 1991 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned most of this new asbestos law that would have banned use of the material.

Following the Court's decision, some asbestos-containing products remained banned, including flooring felt; rollboard; and corrugated, commercial, or specialty paper. Also, the law banned the use of asbestos in products that had not historically contained asbestos.

The EPA continues to regulate the release of asbestos from factories and during building demolition and renovation. They also set limits on amounts that can be found in drinking water. OSHA also upholds certain asbestos laws limiting the amounts of asbestos fibers that can be found in the air in workplaces for certain time limits.