Chrysotile (white) asbestos - banned!

United Kingdom

Chrysotile (white) asbestos - banned!

Following the European Commission's announcement to ban the use of chrysotile (white) asbestos on 26 July 1999, Directive 1999/77/EC restricting the Marketing and Use of Certain Dangerous Substances and Preparations (Asbestos) was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 6 August 1999. The Directive comes into force on 27 August 1999, 20 days following its publication. The Directive bans the use of chrysotile asbestos used in asbestos cement products such as pipes and roofing as well as brakes and clutch lining in motor vehicles by 1 January 2005 and follows firm evidence that the use of asbestos and products containing it can, by the release of fibres, cause asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. This brings to an end the last legal use of asbestos in the European Union. The other five of the six uses of asbestos had been banned from 1991.

For further information, please contact Verity Kidd at CMS Cameron McKenna on +44 171 367 300 or [email protected]