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The text referenced below by a team of nine researchers from Australia and Sweden was uploaded on October 8, 2025 to the Regional Health website of The Lancet Western Pacific. Updated findings were reported from an initial 2015 cohort study which examined the cancer risk posed by living in houses in the Australian capital (ACT) insulated with loose fill asbestos sold under the brand name Mr Fluffy. The paper’s authors confirmed “that living in a house with loose fill asbestos insulation may be sufficient to cause cancer, in particular mesothelioma.” See: Risk of cancer associated with residential exposure to asbestos insulation: updated evidence.

In world-shattering news – reported in Japan, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and elsewhere – a stunning jury verdict of almost a billion dollars was handed down by a California jury last week in a case brought over the 2021 mesothelioma death of 88-year old Mae Moore. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was founded guilty of causing her death by selling asbestos-contaminated talc-based baby powder. The jurors were so incensed by the evidence that they ordered the company to pay $950 million in punitive damages. The company said it will appeal. See: Jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $966m in talc cancer case.

In an article for Tribune, Tom White, author of the newly published book “Bad Dust. A History of the Asbestos Disaster,” describes how successive UK governments of various persuasions failed to address the asbestos hazard. Examining the behaviour of Cape PLC, one of the UK’s largest asbestos conglomerates, the author highlighted how time after time the profits of industry stakeholders were prioritized over occupational and public health. The massive corporate cover-up which enabled the industry to flourish for so long could not have succeeded without a high level of government complacency or, even worse, cooperation. See: Asbestos: The Neoliberal Poison.

Complexities involved in obtaining accurate diagnoses of asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) were examined in the research paper cited below which explored the potential of newer technologies including low-dose CT (LDCT), ultra-low-dose CT (ULDCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other innovative diagnostic techniques. The authors concluded that: “Addressing the diagnostic gap in ARDs in LMICs requires systemic strengthening of occupational health surveillance, better regulatory enforcement, expanded access to advanced diagnostic tools, and targeted clinician training.” See: Challenges in Identifying and Diagnosing Asbestos-Related Diseases in Emerging Economies: A Global Health Perspective.

Research reported in the article cited below confirmed that most schools were not in compliance with regulations requiring “schools, colleges and high schools… to have a technical diagnosis gathering all the documents relating to the monitoring of materials that may contain asbestos.” Commenting on discouraging feedback from the Ministry of National Education regarding its asbestos survey of schools, the teachers’ unions claimed that municipal officials, which owned schools, were as negligent as employers who managed them in failing to address the asbestos hazard. See [subscription site]: Amiante dans les écoles: plus de la moitié des établissements concernés ne seraient pas en règle [Asbestos in schools: more than half of schools concerned are not in compliance].

On September 30, 2025 Prevent Cancer Now – a “Canada-wide movement to eliminate preventable contributors to cancer…” – uploaded the results of Statistics Canada’s first national inventory of asbestos cement (AC) drinking water supply pipes. Based on data from 64% of jurisdictions, it was suggested that there are ~13,700 kilometers (~8,500 miles) of AC drinking water pipes still in use throughout Canada. The worst affected Provinces were: British Columbia (4,261 km AC pipes), Alberta (3,286 km), Saskatchewan (2,757 km), Ontario (1,259 km), Manitoba (1,006 km) and Quebec (864 km). See: Where are Canada’s asbestos cement drinking water pipes? Check the data for where you live.

Under Brazilian legislation, when a worker is injured or becomes ill due to working conditions, companies are obliged to communicate this fact – with the use of a form referred to as a CAT – to the Social Security Administration (INSS). For decades Brazil’s largest asbestos conglomerate: Eternit S/A failed to do this for workers at its factories in Bahia. The Labor Prosecutor's Office (MPT) in 2017 filed a lawsuit against the company for non-compliance. In the latest development in this case, Judge Viviane Maria Leite de Faria ordered Eternit to issue the required documentation to eligible employees. If the company fails to do so, it will be fined. See: Fernanda Giannasi: A Eternit é mais uma vez derrotada na Justiça [Fernanda Giannasi: Eternit is once again defeated in court].

An opinion piece on the website of Nikkei Asia – an online provider of financial news covering developments in Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia – on October 2, 2025 documented the raging controversy forestalling action on asbestos by the Vietnam Government, with the the Ministry of Construction downplaying the asbestos hazard and the Ministry of Health calling for a “complete asbestos ban due to public health concerns.” Domestic and foreign asbestos industry stakeholders continue to do everything they can to preserve the status quo. See: OPINION. Asbestos in Vietnam is the unseen Danger.

A Committee of the Kenyan Parliament set a one-year deadline for the eradication of asbestos roofing from all public buildings. The National Assembly Committee on Petitions also stipulated that the Ministry of Health had six months to conduct an asbestos health audit to identify at-risk populations. In the report the Committee submitted to Parliament, the deadly hazard posed by the liberation of carcinogenic asbestos fibers from deteriorating asbestos-cement products was highlighted. From the 1960s on, asbestos building products were used widely in the construction of the built environment. See: MPs give public institutions one year to remove asbestos roofing.

A new outreach initiative by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) launched last month highlighted the danger posed by the continued presence of asbestos on farms. According to Bryan Monson, HSENI’s deputy chief executive: “Asbestos in buildings may not be clearly visible and can be hidden within the building structure, for example, in cavity walls, so it is very important that farmers and those managing farm businesses inspect their buildings for asbestos-containing materials before doing any maintenance or refurbishment work.” See: The hidden danger of asbestos on farms.

In a press release issued last week by Honeywell, an American multinational conglomerate which operates in multiple industrial sectors including aerospace, building automation, industrial automation, and energy and sustainability solutions, plans to off-load Honeywell’s asbestos liabilities to “Delticus, a leading institutionally capitalized corporate liability acquisition platform” were announced. This is a corporate strategy that has been adopted by other US asbestos defendant corporations with varying degrees of success. After this divestment has been accomplished, Honeywell said, it will separate in late 2026 “into three independent, industry-leading companies.” See: Honeywell Announces Transaction to Divest Legacy Asbestos Liabilities.

Another searing asbestos exposé has been uploaded by Confront Power, a British investigative news portal. The focus of this piece was the emerging asbestos scandal at Oxford University. The institution was ordered by the Information Commissioner’s Office to release relevant internal documents from 2019 and 2020. They showed dramatic failings in the management of asbestos contained within the university infrastructure: “Out of the estimated 235 university buildings with asbestos-containing materials, just four buildings had developed and implemented sufficient asbestos management plans.” See: Serious asbestos management failings at Oxford University, documents reveal.

A report on discussions which took place on June 19 & 20, 2025 on the industrial legacy of Libby, Montana and the vital work of the Center for Asbestos-Related Disease (CARD) wwas uploaded on September 29, 2025. Libby, Montana is an EPA superfund site due to extensive asbestos contamination caused by the vermiculite mining operations of the W. R. Grace company. Despite contested legal rulings and media misrepresentation, CARD remained open for business so that it could continue to support asbestos victims and their families. See: Proceedings of the Libby, Montana asbestos education & outreach retreat.

Domenico Rossi, a regional councilor from Italy’s Piedmont region, expressed the concern of many local people, when he sought confirmation from the Department of the Environment about the transfer of asbestos waste from a building site in Turin to the Savoini waste facility in Maggiora, a city in the Province of Novara, Piedmont. The official response from the Department was less than reassuring as it referred to “non-hazardous waste containing asbestos” and failed to say how long the materials would remain in the Novara area. See: Sono arrivati a Maggiora i rifiuti contenenti amianto del cantiere di Torino [Asbestos-containing waste from Turin construction site has arrived in Maggiora].

A new resource – The Asbestos Product Guide – by Australia’s Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (ASSEA) was recently uploaded. The guide provided pictures showing typical asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) used in Australia during the 20th century, with useful information including brand names and descriptions. Photos are grouped under subject headings including: building structures & Components, machinery & fixed plant, electrical infrastructure, insulation, adhesives, sealants & coatings and other. See: The Asbestos Product Guide.

An asbestos roundtable discussion took place at the annual Labor Party Conference which was held in Birmingham on September 29, 2025. A number of leading experts recapped the ongoing hazard posed by asbestos within the national infrastructure and bemoaned the failure of the Labour Government to take effective action. Minister Sir Stephen Timms detailed some positive developments: the 2025-26 rollout of an asbestos census of the public estate, beginning with schools and hospitals; HSE's plans for regulatory reform to tighten up the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012; HSE's increased awareness campaigns and proposed research on epidemiological studies, high-risk areas and stakeholders’ behaviour. See: Labour's Asbestos Strategy: Progress or Procrastination?

The article which can be accessed at the link provided was written by Julian Branch, an outspoken critic of Canada’s failure to deal with the deadly legacy posed by the continued use of deteriorating asbestos-containing pipes to deliver water. The head-in-the-sand approach adopted by the authorities and public utility companies to the threat posed by ingested asbestos in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon and British Columbia seems to be validated by the lack of action taken by Health & Welfare Canada – now Health Canada (HC) – and the federal government. Branch detailed decades of missed opportunities and concluded with, considering the neglect shown to date, a possibly over-optimistic hope that a current reassessment of the situation by HC might bring improvements. [Read full article]

Recent developments in East and Southeast Asia have highlighted the continued importance of bilateral and multinational collaborations in the struggle to address national asbestos legacies. The exchange of information and the sharing of expertise remain essential tools in neutralizing the efforts of industry lobbyists who continue to actively promote the interests of asbestos stakeholders at national, regional and international forums. In the post-Covid era, there has been a resurgence of multinational collaborations as illustrated by developments in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Seoul, Korea; and Jakarta, Indonesia which are discussed in this article. [Read full article]

In her review of “Bad Dust, A History of the Asbestos Disaster,” published this month by Repeater Books, Laurie Kazan-Allen explained that the genesis for this work had been the mesothelioma death of Albert Popple, the granddad of author Tom White. As many other talented people before him had done, White harnessed his grief “to create a work of art that spoke not only of personal traumas but universal truths.” “Bad Dust is,” the reviewer explained “a well-written book which ponders important subjects.” This text will be of interest to people interested in the history of the asbestos tragedy as well as many more readers trying to grapple with wider 21st century issues such as the unending struggle for a sustainable future, corporate accountability and environmental justice. [Read full article]

In recent weeks, international groups have submitted key evidence to the Central Jakarta District Court which is hearing a case brought by asbestos vested interests, represented by the FICMA trade association, against individuals and groups that petitioned the Supreme Court for its endorsement of measures imposing mandatory warning labels on asbestos-cement roofing products. After the Supreme Court upheld this petition (2024), FICMA launched a ferocious legal attack on the petitioners claiming massive financial damages. This letter deconstructs one of FICMA’s principle arguments, namely that failure by the UN to list chrysotile (white) asbestos as a hazardous material supported industry propaganda that exposure to asbestos was “harmless.” [Read full article]

The high-profile participation of ministers and institutions from the Cambodian Government in recent activities in Phnom Penh designed to raise asbestos awareness and implement a transition to asbestos-free technology reconfirmed the Government’s commitment to ending asbestos use and building medical capacity to diagnose and treat citizens injured by toxic exposures. Opening the three-day conference: Improving Diagnosis and Response to Occupational Cancers: Asbestos and Dust Related Diseases Cambodian Health Minister His Excellency Professor Chheang Ra called for the country to prioritize inter-ministerial collaboration to establish frameworks restricting toxic imports and phase-out asbestos consumption. [Read full article]

The timely article by Professor Arthur Frank is a damning indictment of global failures to engage with the threat posed by the continued presence and use of deteriorating asbestos-containing products throughout national infrastructures. Such toxic substances contaminate our homes, schools, hospitals, vehicles, water systems and environment. Almost half the text of this new feature, dealt with the health hazard posed by the use of asbestos pipes to deliver water. The concluding words of this commentary were chilling: “it is alarming that increasing amounts of exposure and increasing findings of ingestion-related asbestos disease continue to be noted in the scientific literature, with little being done to either educate the public or to educate physicians about these risks.” [Read full article]

A new medical scheme was launched by Liz Darlison, from Mesothelioma UK, and Kim Brislane, from Australia’s Asbestos Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI) at an August 27, 2025 meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The initiative is a collaboration of Mesothelioma UK, ADDRI and the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS). Welcoming news of the positive reception for the pioneering program, IBAS Coordinator Laurie Kazan-Allen said: “Asbestos-related diseases are notoriously difficult to diagnose. Experience has shown that building medical capacity of nursing staff can make a huge impact on the experiences of patients and family members.” [Read full article]

A recent analysis of global asbestos trade figures for 2023 revealed startling developments in four former Soviet Union Central Asian countries. While the world’s two biggest asbestos producers Russia and Kazakhstan consumed a mere 0.76 and 0.72 kilograms/kg per person that year, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan used a staggering 3.4 kg and 2.34 kg per capita and Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan 1.6 kg and 1.57 kg. According to an academic paper by scientists from the Kyrgyz Republic and Italy (2024), awareness of the asbestos hazard and asbestos monitoring capacity in all four countries are extremely low. [Read full article]

The headline of a front-page article in the Daily Mail on August 4, 2025 was as shocking as it was controversial: “Asbestos Kills More Troops than Taliban.” According to the first sentence in the hard-hitting exposé by Steve Boggan: “Asbestos killed nine times more military veterans than there were British victims of the Taliban during the Afghan campaign, government records reveal.” While a handful of other UK news outlets picked up this story, it was widely covered by the Russian media. This development was noteworthy as Russia, the world’s biggest producer of asbestos, continues to deny that asbestos exposures can cause cancers and other deadly diseases. [Read full article]

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]

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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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