Wait, people are still using asbestos? The EPA has finally ordered them to stop.

• Asbestos is still being used in the US, but not for much longer.
• The EPA announced a ban on the remaining uses of asbestos, a known carcinogen.

You've probably seen those asbestos warning signs posted on old and crumbling condemned buildings.

But asbestos is actually still being used in some industries, decades after it was first partially banned in the US — just not for much longer.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Monday that it was banning all remaining uses of the deadly carcinogen. It's the first rule to be finalized under the Toxic Substances Control Act since it was amended in 2016, the EPA said.

The only known form of the chemical still being used in the US is chrysotile asbestos, which can be found in some car brakes and linings, sheet gaskets, brake blocks, and other vehicle friction products, according to the EPA.

The chlor-alkali industry also uses chrysotile asbestos to make sodium hydroxide and chlorine, the EPA said.

Exposure to asbestos, a mineral fiber found in rock and soil, has long been known to cause a variety of cancers, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer, the EPA said.

It's still linked to over 40,000 deaths in the US each year, despite most industries no longer using the product.

"The science is clear – asbestos is a known carcinogen that has severe impacts on public health," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement.

The chemical has been banned from use in sectors like building construction and renovation — hence the "danger: asbestos" construction signs — but it hasn't actually been outlawed altogether.

The EPA did ban asbestos in 1989, but a 1991 court decision largely overturned that by limiting the EPA's authority. By comparison, absestos is banned in over 50 countries.

The EPA's rule immediately prohibits the import of chrysotile asbestos; however, it gives some industries time to phase it out. The chlor-alkali sector has until 2037 to eliminate its usage of the product.

"This action marks a major step to improve chemical safety after decades of inadequate protections, helping advance President Biden's Cancer Moonshot goal to end cancer as we know it," Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in the press release.