× Expand ОАО "Ураласбест" Earlier this summer, Russian asbestos giant Uralasbest stamped its asbestos products with a picture of President Donald Trump. The surrounding text reads: “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States.”

It’s been nearly thirteen years since I was diagnosed with mesothelioma. I lost my left lung and everything around it. I have chronic pain and numbness on my left side. I tire easily and recently had to deal with a paralyzed vocal cord due to extensive radiation treatments.

Yet I’m one of the lucky ones — I’m still alive. And I’m still able to speak out.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States has been rolling back protections against exposure to asbestos, with causes mesothelioma. In fact, the EPA will no longer evaluate asbestos already in homes and businesses as a danger or health risk.

To be clear, asbestos is not banned in the United States. It is used almost exclusively by the chlor-alkali industry, which makes chlorine, sodium hydroxide (also called caustic soda) and hydrogen. During the manufacturing process, asbestos is used to filter brine solution.

All the asbestos used in this process is imported from Brazil and Russia, with Russia being the main exporter.

Earlier this summer, Russian asbestos giant Uralasbest put a picture of President Donald Trump on its asbestos products. It then posted photos of bales of asbestos on social media with the caption, “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States.” A U.S. environmental group brought this issue to light in July with a translation of the post.

“Donald is on our side,” the caption read. “He supported the (now former) head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, who stated that his agency would no longer deal with negative effects potentially derived from products containing asbestos. Donald Trump supported a specialist and called asbestos ‘100% safe after application.’”

This is an apparent reference to Trump’s 1997 book, “The Art of the Comeback,” where he opined that asbestos is “100% safe, once applied.”

Yet exposure to asbestos kills an estimated 15,000 people each year in the United States alone. Among the many illnesses caused by asbestos are mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer and uterine cancer.

Among the many illnesses caused by asbestos are mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer and uterine cancer.

More than 55 countries, from Japan to Jordan, have banned asbestos. Yet in the United States, there is no ban in sight.

And now the EPA has called for expanding the commercial use of asbestos. Andrew Wheeler, Pruitt’s successor at the EPA, claims the agency is being misrepresented, tweeting that it is merely “proposing a new rule that would allow for the restriction of asbestos manufacturing and processing of new uses of asbestos.”

But the fact-checking group Snopes has affirmed that the EPA’s proposal will allow for potential new uses of asbestos. And any use of asbestos is too much.

I’ve lost too many friends to this disease. I’ve watched them waste away, trying every treatment they can to keep the beast at bay. Anyone who has gone through this is reeling right now. We hear about a proposed new use rule for asbestos and we can’t help but relive all of the battles with this disease. We can’t help but feel the rage that comes with senseless loss.

This administration’s deliberate moves to ignore science and the suffering of countless people to make a buck is something I won’t support. I’m doing my part by calling my government officials and telling them that this is wrong. I’m spreading the word as well as I can.

Heather Von St. James of Minnesota is a wife, mom and mesothelioma survivor, dedicated to advocacy and raising awareness of the disease and its cause. This column was written for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.