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On August 8, 2025, a settlement was reached in the Osaka High Court, Judge Yumiko Tokuoka presiding, in an asbestos case brought by 133 people, including former workers and bereaved relatives, against 21 building materials manufacturers. The injured had all worked on construction sites where they were exposed to asbestos products and as a result contracted asbestos cancer. It was agreed that 12 companies, including Panasonic Holdings and Pacific Cement, would pay damages of 1.2 billion yen (US$8.1m) to 115 plaintiffs. See: アスベスト訴訟、大阪高裁でも和解　建材12社が12億円支払いへ [Asbestos lawsuit, settlement in Osaka High Court; 12 building materials companies to pay 1.2 billion yen].

Following protracted campaigning by local groups and residents, the Canadian Province of British Columbia agreed to shut down hazardous shipbreaking operations by Deep Water Recovery Ltd. (DWR) in Union Bay. In a statement by the Province, it was pointed out that DWR had “not demonstrated the level of regulatory compliance, operational responsibility, or environmental stewardship required” to justify the use of Crown land for dismantling vessels. See: Province shuts down hazardous shipbreaking at Union Bay.

Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests made to Police Scotland by researchers working for the Conservative Party revealed that 177 police stations throughout Scotland still contain asbestos; four of them also contain Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, which is another safety concern for building users. The region with the most police stations affected by asbestos contamination is Aberdeenshire and Moray, which has 25 toxic police stations compared to Glasgow which has 23 and Tayside which has 21. See: SNP accused of ‘shameful neglect’ as scale of asbestos in Scottish police stations revealed.

On August 8, 2025, Belgium authorities informed EU officials – via the EU's rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products (Safety Gate) – that brake pads containing asbestos were being sold in the EU by the Chinese online store AliExpress. Following this action, on August 10, 2025 Flemish MP Andy Pieters called on the authorities to act with urgency: “We must fight against the arrival of these products as much as possible… public authorities must proactively warn garages, the roadworthiness inspection sector and consumers, not just a simple alert via an underlying European system.” See: La Belgique alerte sur des plaquettes de frein contenant de l’amiante vendues en ligne [Belgium warns of asbestos-containing brake pads sold online].

Earlier this month, a retired mechanic from a Renault garage won a decisive court victory against his former employer when a Nantes court recognized that toxic workplace exposures to asbestos had caused him to contract lung cancer. Because the company had failed to implement protective measures against asbestos dust, it was found guilty of inexcusable fault/gross negligence. As a result, the ex-employee’s pension will be increased by 10% and the French Asbestos Victims Compensation Fund (FIVA) will be able to reclaim from Renault the compensation previously paid to the mechanic. See: Renault condamné, l’amiante a provoqué le cancer de son mécano [Renault sentenced for asbestos exposures which caused mechanic's cancer].

Several Quebec boroughs and municipalities closed their clay tennis courts last week as a precaution after measurements in July showed above-standard asbestos concentrations in products being used to maintain clay tennis courts in the Quebec town of Saint-Sauveur, 40 miles from Montreal. Samples taken from the US product used on the tennis courts had asbestos concentrations exceeding 1% - ten times the concentration allowed by Quebec standards. See: Quebec municipalities close clay tennis courts over possible asbestos concerns.

The timely and detailed article cited below, which was uploaded to the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, highlighted the dichotomy in regional asbestos policies with comprehensive national prohibitions in Australia and no ban in neighboring countries like Indonesia. Recent attempts to impose even a modicum of workplace and consumer protections in Indonesia have resulted in punishing legal actions by asbestos industry stakeholders led by the Fibre Cement Manufacturers' Association. One hundred and fifty thousands tonnes of asbestos are used in Indonesia every year making it the world’s third largest national market. See: Australia banned asbestos 20 years ago, but now a new battle is raging next door.

A hard-hitting exposé in the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper on August 4, 2025 shocked not only citizens at home but was picked up and recirculated ad naseum by the Russian media. The first sentence in the text by journalist Steve Boggan was explosive: “Asbestos killed nine times more military veterans than there were British victims of the Taliban during the Afghan campaign, government records reveal.” The article is part of the newspaper’s Asbestos: Britain’s Hidden Killer campaign which is calling for urgent and effective government action on asbestos. See: Asbestos kills more troops than the Taliban: National disgrace revealed by Mail as toxic MoD homes and equipment caused NINE TIMES more deaths than 20-year Afghan campaign.

The most recent in a series of asbestos features by journalist Tom Quinn reported on the work of Colombian campaigners whose efforts were pivotal in the country’s decision to ban asbestos. Journalist Ana Cecilia Niño was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the signature cancer associated with asbestos, in September 2014. The devastating diagnosis fueled her passion to eradicate the asbestos hazard in her country. Unfortunately, she did not live long enough to see the bill in her name which banned asbestos use in Colombia become law in 2021. Her husband Daniel Pineda continues to work with asbestos victims and their families as part of the Ana Niño Foundation. See: The family whose campaign defeated the Colombian asbestos industry.

One of the first studies on the incidence of occupational asbestos-related diseases in Turkey was published in a peer-reviewed journal on August 6, 2025. The co-authors reported: “a total of 307 asbestos-related disease cases between 2006 and 2017, and 15% of these cases were linked to work-related asbestos exposure.” There was a lack of occupational mesothelioma cases and only three cases of lung cancer. Viewed in light of data from other countries, it was suggested that: “problems in the reporting system of occupational diseases and inadequate occupational evaluation while diagnosing lung cancer and mesothelioma cases” were responsible. See: Incidence analysis of occupational respiratory diseases in Türkiye: a cross-sectional legal registry-based study from 2013 to 2023.

On August 7, 2025, the Taiwan police arrested a 53-year-old man near the Miaoli causeway viaduct in Miaoli, a county in western Taiwan. The man was charged with illegally dumping two tons of asbestos building waste in contravention of the Waste Disposal Law. A joint inspection by the police and Environmental Protection Bureau of the Miaoli County Government was carried out after a report of the fly-tipping incident had been made by a member of the public. See: 苗栗男违法弃置2吨石棉瓦 警循线查获依法送办 [A Miaoli man illegally dumped two tons of asbestos tiles; police tracked him down and took him into custody].

The death of Walter Berhovet, the latest Buenos Aires subway worker to die from an asbestos-related disease, led to a strike on August 4 by members of the Subway and Premetro Workers’ Association. The trade unionists were angry at the continued presence of asbestos in the city’s underground transport system. According to the union, the deceased was one of 114 subway workers who were recognized as having been affected by asbestos exposures: four of them contracted cancer as a result of toxic workplace conditions. See: Asbestos in the Buenos Aires subway? Union strikes after worker dies of cancer.

The headline of the front-page article in the Daily Mail on August 4, 2025 was as shocking as it was controversial: asbestos mortality amongst the military had been nine times as great as the number of deaths caused by the Taliban. A supplementary article also written by Steve Boggan (See: Heartrending tales of soldiers who fell victim to the British military’s silent killer asbestos) told the personal stories of former service personnel whose lives had been lost to asbestos-related cancers and diseases. See: Asbestos kills more troops than the Taliban: National disgrace revealed by Mail as toxic MoD homes and equipment caused NINE TIMES more deaths than 20-year Afghan campaign

The article cited below by a leading lung cancer expert highlighted important new developments in the treatment of lung cancer, one of the top three causes of cancer mortality in Malaysia. Many of the patients diagnosed, never smoked and contracted the disease through exposures to asbestos and other carcinogens. With huge advances being made in the availability of effective medical treatments for lung cancer, it is urgent for patients in Malaysia to be diagnosed as soon as possible to achieve optimal outcomes. See: Lung cancer survival doubles with advances in modern therapies, says expert.

Work was suspended after the police found multiple violations of health and safety regulations during work at earthquake-affected sites in Ùssita, a city in the Macerata Province, central Italy. The director of the company carrying out the construction work, Potenza Picena, was convicted of serious infringements of asbestos regulations; he was fined €14,800 (US$17,100) and ordered to pay costs of €3,000 (US$ 3,500). See: Amianto non segnalato nel cantiere post-sisma: scatta la denuncia [Unreported asbestos at post-earthquake construction site: complaint filed].

According to The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), the rapid escalation of cases of illegal asbestos dumping in Northern Ireland poses “a serious threat to our environment and to public health.” Since 2019, there have been 281 incidents during which asbestos debris has been fly-tipped in contravention of strict mandatory protocols mandating removal by specialist contractors and disposal at licensed hazardous waste sites. According to the BBC, after mixed waste and general construction debris, asbestos was the most common illegally-dumped material in Northern Ireland. See: Asbestos illegally dumped 281 times in five years.

News that an asbestos-laden 50-year-old Italian ferry – the Moby Drea – was bound for Croatia in July/August 2025 was not well received by people living near the Brodosplit shipyard. The day after the ship arrived, hundreds of people turned up for a high-profile protest which was supported by NGOs and local politicians including the new Mayor of Split. Campaigners continue their efforts to secure answers to the very detailed questions raised by the seemingly illegal import of the toxic waste site that is the Moby Drea. The uproar in Split shows no signs of abating any time soon. [Read full article]

It continues to amaze me how each country needs to do its own research to reaffirm the deadly consequences of asbestos exposures. Newly published reports about the health hazard posed by airborne and waterborne asbestos fibers in Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Canada are typical. According to the texts of these academic papers: “a remarkable amount of chrysotile (white asbestos)” was found in the air and lungs of people living near asbestos processing factories; air samples taken in high-traffic areas had high to very high asbestos fiber concentrations; and samples from rivers in a former asbestos mining region showed “an increase in the concentration of asbestos fibers in the water and sediments.” [Read full article]

During the 20th century, a handful of multinational conglomerates controlled global asbestos production, processing, marketing and sales. For decades, the industry’s dominance of the asbestos agenda enabled it to off-load liabilities onto individuals, communities and governments. The price paid by the injured was horrific and the economic costs incurred were colossal. Recent political and legal developments in the UK, the Netherlands and Australia suggest that traditional corporate asbestos avoidance strategies may have been compromised. [Read full article]

An intriguing and somewhat confusing headline – Trump Administration, Reversing Itself, Won’t Rewrite a Ban on Asbestos – in the July 7, 2025 issue of the New York Times caught my attention. Three weeks previously, the Republican government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had confirmed its intention to overturn asbestos prohibitions implemented by the previous administration. By July 7, all that had changed. The shift in approach from formal rulemaking to the provision of guidance on complying with the terms of the prohibitions realigns the US with other G7 countries and 36 of the OECD’s 38 members which have banned asbestos. For the time being, the status quo has been reinstated. Whether it remains in place, only time will tell. [Read full article]

In the run-up to the UK’s annual day of asbestos remembrance – Action Mesothelioma Day – the latest national asbestos mortality data was released on July 2, 2025. With the number of deaths from other asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) added to those from mesothelioma, the total annual death toll, once again, exceeds 5,000, more than three times the number of road traffic fatalities and nearly eight times the number of murders which occur every year in the UK. Since the first AMD was held in 2006, it’s been calculated that more than 100,000 Britons have died from asbestos-related diseases. It is tragic to think of the many more lives which will be lost due to government intransigence, bureaucratic obstacles and lack of technical capacity. [Read full article]

Welcoming the new Korean President, who took office on June 4, 2025, civil society groups launched a rolling program of weekly public rallies in the capital to highlight critical issues including the country’s deadly asbestos legacy, the dumping of Fukushima nuclear wastewater and Korea’s humidifier disinfectant disaster. Despite achieving a remarkable success in eradicating the asbestos hazard from schools, dangerous asbestos loopholes and unaddressed problems remain, including failures of compliance with mandatory asbestos regulations; the continued presence of nearly a million asbestos-contaminated buildings; and the lack of support for some groups of asbestos victims. [Read full article]

On June 24, 2025, the Constitutional Court of Slovenia handed down a historic verdict upholding the successor right of relatives to bring a legal action for the asbestos death of a family member. According to the Court, the previous position which barred them from doing so – as laid out in the Act on Remedying the Consequences of Work with Asbestos – was unconstitutional. As a direct consequence of this ruling the National Assembly must adopt measures implementing this policy reversal within one year. In the meantime, heirs of deceased victims whose asbestos-related diseases had been medically recognized may submit compensation claims. [Read full article]

On June 16, 2025, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed its intention to overturn asbestos prohibitions implemented by the previous administration. According to the EPA’s motion, the process of re-evaluating the 2024 regulations would take at least 30 months and most likely a lot longer. While polluters and vested interests – some of whom formerly employed current EPA officials – are no doubt, delighted with this news others have warned of the dire consequences for American citizens of future asbestos exposures. [Read full article]

Around the world, mobilization over the asbestos hazard continued to accelerate in recent weeks. Among the issues tackled were: the rights of victims, the responsibility of governments, deadly national legacies, the eradication of contaminated infrastructures and the need to outlaw asbestos use in countries which have not yet done so. The initiatives rolled out by civil society groups, trade unions and governments to raise public awareness, support the injured and protect populations in Asia, Africa and Europe confirm that the global asbestos discourse is now an integral part of mainstream discussions on human rights, environmental justice and green technology. [Read full article]

I always knew there was something Quixotic about the confrontation of British mining conglomerate Cape Asbestos by thousands of South Africans from poor mining communities in the late 1990s; just how epic the battle was has taken me 30 years to fully appreciate. The publication of a new book – In A Rain of Dust, Death, Deceit and the Lawyer who Busted Big Asbestos – was a revelation with its tale of corporate crime, apartheid capitalism, boardroom clashes, vulture funds and a huge cast of characters. Summing up the importance of this publication, one UK campaigner said: “This new book has a relevance not just to those of us fighting for the rights of the asbestos-injured but to everyone concerned about human rights, environmental justice and corporate responsibility.” [Read full article]

In a press release issued today, asbestos victims’ groups from around the world came together to welcome a new book: In a Rain of Dust – Death, Deceit and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos which was published in London on May 13, 2025. The text written by David Kinley joins the pantheon of other English-language classics which stripped away carefully crafted corporate façades to show the ugly reality which lies behind asbestos industry profits. The gripping story of how a London-based human rights solicitor with little prior knowledge about asbestos called to account one of the UK’s biggest asbestos conglomerates is not only a riveting read but also a timely reminder of the consequences of an industrial legacy that continues to cause death and destruction on a global scale. [Read full article]

Around the world, International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) was celebrated on April 28, 2025 by trade unions, labor federations and groups representing victims of workplace illnesses and accidents. Although the theme of this year’s activities was the threat of artificial intelligence to workers, many of the events held highlighted the imminent hazard posed by asbestos to workers both in countries where its use remains legal and those where it is banned. With millions of tonnes of asbestos material still contaminating national infrastructures and over a million tonnes of asbestos fiber being used every year, neither workers nor the public are safe from deadly exposures. The IWMD slogan: “remember the dead, fight for the living” is as apt now as it’s ever been. [Read full article]

For decades, the existence of a regional asbestos epidemic has been a fact of life for people living in towns near a former asbestos mine in Bahia, a state in the northeast of Brazil. A pionnering pulmonary screening program has now confirmed what local people already knew: there is, indeed, a high incidence of occupationally and environmentally caused asbestos cancers, asbestosis, pleural plaques and other respiratory diseases in the Bahia towns of Bom Jesus da Serra, Poções, Caetanos and Planalto. Recommendations made by the specialists who implemented the surveillance program included: continuous monitoring of at-risk individuals, better recording of disease levels and data and the creation of a local center of excellence for the treatment of lung diseases. [Read full article]

People continue to die from asbestos-related cancers and diseases more than thirty years after asbestos was banned in Italy. For decades, victims’ associations, trade unions, community groups and public prosecutors have sought to hold negligent parties to account for the damage done. One defendant who has been indicted and convicted in multiple jurisdictions is Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny, former owner and a director of the Swiss Eternit company and the main shareholder of the defunct cement production company Eternit Italia. On April 17, the Turin Court of Appeal confirmed a lower court’s verdict which held him responsible for scores of asbestos deaths even though it reduced the length of the prison sentence. [Read full article]

It is remarkable to witness the heightened engagement of national authorities with asbestos legacies in key global hotspots. The imposition of new restrictions, progression of medical projects, upscaling of impact assessments and implementation of eradication programs are indicative of an ever-growing awareness of the urgent need for action to prevent future deaths. Work is also on-going in scores of other countries in screening at-risk populations, securing compensation for victims of asbestos-related diseases, documenting the crimes of asbestos defendants, highlighting long-standing injustices of compensation schemes, and exposing hazardous workplaces and practices. Scrupulous monitoring of developments is essential to preserve progress made in the battle for global asbestos justice. [Read full article]

A catalog of recent developments are suggestive of major problems at Russia’s second largest asbestos conglomerate: Uralasbest. On March 10, the company announced that the workforce would be put on a three-day week to save money on labor costs. Reacting to this news, panicked Uralasbest employees, already on minimum wage, told reporters that their income could decrease by a further 30%. Many were “seriously considering quitting.” Just a few days after the Uralasbest bombshell had exploded, the company announced that it was abandoning the three-day week in the face of employee “dissatisfaction.” The press service of Uralasbest declined to comment further. [Read full article]

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Demonstration in Woluwe Park, Brussels, 2006

Under cloudy skies, members of Belgian and French Asbestos Victims' Associations from Dunkirk and Bourgogne marched side-by-side in the third annual demonstration organized by ABEVA, the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims. Erik Jonckheere, ABEVA's Co-chairman, condemned the government which still refuses to recognize the plight of the asbestos injured.

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