The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday a federal ban on all uses of chrysotile asbestos, delivering on a yearslong federal effort to remove the toxic substance from use in industrial and manufacturing sectors.

Though the EPA banned most forms of asbestos decades ago, the use of chrysotile asbestos, or “white asbestos,” has persisted in certain construction and industrial sectors due to the material’s resistance to heat, fire, and electric conduction. 

It also plays a key role in the nation’s chlorine manufacturing sector, which certain industry groups and the Chamber of Commerce have argued a ban could lead to a shortage of clean drinking water in the United States.

Still, administration officials said the harm caused by the substance far outweighs any benefits. 

Chrysotile asbestos is the only kind of asbestos still used in the U.S. and is linked to nearly 40,000 deaths every year. It has also been known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, and ovarian cancer, EPA officials said on Monday.

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The action is also EPA’s first final rule issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which Congress passed with bipartisan support in 2016.

The ban comes as the administration looks to further its action on President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative and to “transform the way EPA is using the new chemical safety law to do what it was meant to do,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said, “[which is] to protect people from toxic chemicals.”