Washington, D.C. – Both the workers and passengers who ride the Washington, D.C. Metro rail system deserve to know if they have been exposed to asbestos, EWG Action Fund said in a letter to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority today.

EWG issued the call for action in response to reports that the lethal substance is present in nearly 300 Metro cars.

“I urge WMATA to conduct a car-by-car inspection to assess the condition of all cars that may contain asbestos and make a full public disclosure of the results,” Heather White, executive director of EWG Action Fund, wrote. “The Metro employees who work in the cars and the hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors who ride Metro trains each day have a right to know whether they may have been exposed to asbestos.”

“The only way to know for sure is for WMATA to have independent experts make a thorough examination of all cars that may contain this material and to make public the inspectors’ findings,” White wrote.

Asbestos is still legal and used in the U.S., and homes, schools, buildings and railroad infrastructure built before 1980 likely contains the lethal substance. A recent report by EWG Action Fund’s “Asbestos Nation” campaign estimates that up to 15,000 Americans continue to die each year from asbestos-related disease.

When people inhale even the smallest amount of airborne asbestos, fibers can become lodged in the lungs and tissue, causing fatal cancers, including mesothelioma, later in life, White said.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration warns there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, and, “every occupational exposure to asbestos contributes to the risk of getting an asbestos related disease.”

Asbestos contamination remains a problem, particularly in some imported products. Last month, the “Asbestos Nation” campaign released a startling report finding asbestos fibers in several children’s toys, including crayons and children’s crime scene fingerprint kits.

A copy of the letter can be found here:

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EWG Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that is a separate sister organization of the Environmental Working Group. The mission of EWG Action Fund is to protect health and the environment by educating the public and lobbying on a wide range of environmental issues. Donations to EWG Action Fund are not tax-deductible. http://www.asbestosnation.org/