Finally in the late s the consumer products safety commission banned the use of asbestos in wallboard patching compounds and artificial ash for gas fireplaces because the fiber could easily be released during use. More commonly those who at some point are diagnosed with asbestos disease have worked in jobs where more substantial exposure occurred over longer periods of time. Symptoms of asbestos disease usually are not be apparent until decades after exposure. S. In the environmental protection agency banned all new use of asbestos but uses established prior to that time were still allowed. For more than years products containing asbestos remained unregulated and the manufacturers of those products continued to prosper knowing full well that many of the millions of workers who came into contact with their products would ultimately suffer as the result of their actions.