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Analyses of air samples from areas near factories producing asbestos-cement material in the cities of Bishkek and Kant detected moderate to heavy levels of contamination. The authors of the article cited below also reported chrysotile and amphibole asbestos fibers in samples of lung tissue. Further studies were, the scientists said, needed but given the political difficulty in imposing a ban on asbestos use “a strict regulation of its use is urgently needed in CA [Central Asia] countries, where unacceptable levels of exposure not only for asbestos workers, as previously reported, but also for the general population, have been pointed out.” See: Assessment of asbestos exposure in Kyrgyzstan through analysis of raw and processed materials, air samples and human lung tissue.

An observational study using data from a national registry was undertaken by scientists from the Netherlands who assessed the impact of COVID-19 on patients with pleural mesothelioma (PM) between 2018 and 2022. The co-authors of the paper sited below reported: “an abrupt decline in the incidence and systemic treatment of PM patients in 2020.” During this time, there was a 58.8% increase in patients receiving best supportive care and a 7.4% fall in the use of chemotherapy. See: Pleural mesothelioma incidence and use of systemic treatment decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands.

Advanced equipment for protecting the population from toxic exposures to asbestos in war zones has been received by officials working for the Ukrainian government. The specialized fiber detection equipment was provided by the United Nations Development Program, thanks to a grant from the Government of Sweden, and was delivered to the Odesa office of Ukraine’s State Environmental Inspectorate. The state-of-the-art system included a Leica DM750P polarization microscope, a fully equipped workstation, related accessories, and necessary consumables. See: Sweden and UNDP Supply Modern Laboratory System For Asbestos Detection To Ukraine.

Wide-scale asbestos contamination of a former industrial site in Spodden Valley, Rochdale has been an ongoing problem for decades. Toxic waste dumped on acres of land by companies belonging to Turner & Newall Ltd. remain, long after manufacturing processes ceased. According to Rochdale Borough Council, as the land is privately owned by Spodden Park Ltd, the Council has limited powers to intervene. Levels of local frustration are high after various private developers failed to act on the serious hazard posed by the toxic condition of the buildings and land. See: Unburied – when asbestos comes back to haunt communities.

Thanks to a ruling by the Etna Court in Catania, Italy the widow of a 65-year-old railway worker will receive compensation of €150,000+ (US$176,000+) for the 2016 cancer death of her husband. CF had worked for 28 years at local railway facilities including the locomotive depot of the Catania vehicle workshop and the navigation operations offices in Messina and Palermo. He was routinely exposed to asbestos, as a result of which he contracted lung cancer. See: Operaio catanese di Rfi morto per carcinoma: l'Inail dovrà risarcire la vedova [A Catania-based RFI worker dies of cancer: INAIL must compensate his widow].

Calls for the law in Western Australia to be changed are being made by the Managing Director of Marco Metals Simon Rushton whose subsidiary Fe Metals applied for a mining exploration license for land within the Wittenoom Asbestos Management Area. The application, which was withdrawn five months ago, had been made by a geologist unfamiliar with the toxic history of the former asbestos mining town. Commenting on this error, Rushton said: “I wouldn’t care if there were 100 million tonnes of diamonds there, we wouldn’t be proceeding with that tenement… because there is no foolproof way of guaranteeing human health and safety.” See: Aus miner’s Wittenoom blunder sparks call for law change.

The lengthy article cited below examined the advantages and disadvantages posed by the shift in economic priorities of a small mining town – Minaçu, in the Brazilian State of Goiás – from asbestos to rare earth mineral mining. Despite reassurances by Mayor Carlos Alberto Lereia, that there is no public health problem in Minaçu, there is a local epidemic of asbestos-related diseases. Inhabitants of the city have expressed concerns over the possible health repercussions of the significant deterioration in water quality as a result of the mining activities for rare earth minerals. See: Do amianto às terras raras, cidade de Goiás vive entre passado e futuro da mineração [From asbestos to rare earths, a city in Goiás lives between the past and future of mining].

A thoughtful article by Tom Quinn described the national tragedy amongst generations of carpenters caused by the country’s use of asbestos. The focus of the article cited below was on the story of Denis Brown, who died from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma on March 7th 2020, aged 85. Like many of his workmates he was routinely exposed to clouds of asbestos dust during the 1960s and 1970s. Neither his employer nor the government took adequate steps to provide safe working conditions. According to epidemiologists, about 10% of the carpenters working in the 1950s-1970s are expected to die from asbestos-related cancer. See: How asbestos killed thousands of British carpenters.

Following a damning report released earlier this month by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment, municipal officials from Danville, Quebec expressed concern over the possibility of asbestos contamination of local water sources. Danville’s Mayor Martine Satre said more research and data was needed even though there was no “clear scientific consensus on the risks associated with ingesting water containing asbestos.” See: Danville souhaite s’assurer qu’il n’y a pas d’amiante dans son eau potable [Danville wants to ensure there is no asbestos in its drinking water].

Despite warnings by the Northern Ireland Environment Minister about the presence of asbestos at the site of a bonfire in South Belfast, plans to set it alight on the night of July 11, 2025 went ahead. Prior to the conflagration, 20 kilograms of asbestos debris had been removed but some toxic waste remained in place. Despite the public health risk posed by the presence of this class 1 carcinogen and several public alerts, many people attended the bonfire which commemorated the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. See: Bonfire lit despite concerns about asbestos.

The “slow violence” in Aliağa, Turkey’s premier ship recycling hub, was condemned in an article published on July 10, 2025, which detailed: “a string of alarming developments that environmental and labor rights organizations warn reflect deep-rooted systemic failures.” A criminal complaint has been filed by a coalition of Turkish civil society groups, environmental watchdogs, and labor unions, accusing Aliağa shipbreaking firms and public authorities “of engaging in environmental pollution, document falsification, and neglect of occupational health and safety laws.” See: Turkey’s Aliağa Ship Recycling Zone Under Fire Amid Toxic Ship Dismantling and Criminal Allegations.

The Province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont Region of Italy, announced that the sum of €3 million (US$3.5m) had been allocated for asbestos eradication of public buildings over a three-year period beginning this year. Officials will prioritize the awarding of funding for older structures which contain deteriorating asbestos-containing material following the submission of risk assessments that consider the state of the material, the risk of toxic exposures and the urgency of the decontamination work needed. See: Bonifica amianto, dalla Regione oltre 3 milioni di euro per gli edifici pubblici [Asbestos remediation, over 3 million euros from the Region for public buildings].

Research undertaken in 2023-2024 by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment in the former asbestos mining region found “high levels” of the carcinogenic mineral in waterways in Val-des-Sources and Thetford Mines. Asbestos fibers liberated by mountains of asbestos mining waste (tailings) “are causing an increase in the concentration of asbestos fibers in the water and sediments” of local waterways. See: Des « niveaux élevés » d’amiante dans des cours d’eau à Val-des-Sources et Thetford Mines [“High levels” of asbestos in waterways in Val-des-Sources and Thetford Mines].

The July 7th article cited below from the New York Times broke the news that plans to derail a 2024 ban on asbestos implemented by the Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had now been dropped. In a document submitted to a US Court of Appeals on July 6, the EPA said: “The agency has further reconsidered… EPA plans to explore whether guidance could provide further clarity to stakeholders as they implement the Rule [the Asbestos Part 1; Chrysotile Asbestos Rule 2024], particularly with respect to any workplace protection measures.” See [subscription site]: Trump Administration, Reversing Itself, Won’t Rewrite a Ban on Asbestos.

An article in a special issue of a magazine which considered multiple health and safety issues at European schools focused on the ubiquitous threat posed by the presence of asbestos material to staff and students. According to the author Tony Musu asbestos contamination of EU schools is widespread: “In France, approximately 80% of the schools built prior to 1997… might still contain asbestos… one in three schools in Germany is still considered to be contaminated with asbestos while up to…3,000 education establishments in Italy” are also affected. See: Asbestos in schools: an invisible scourge for teachers and pupils alike. Pages 29-31 of the special issue: Healthy teachers, better schools of HesaMag 30 – Spring-Summer 2025.

Throughout South Korea, local authorities have been addressing the public and occupational health threat posed by the presence of asbestos in schools. In North Chungcheong Province, in the center of the country, the head of the Education Facilities Division Lee Won-il recently said that: “The current asbestos removal rate… is 86.8%, and the asbestos removal rate during this year's winter vacation is expected to be 92.1%. Except for private kindergartens and 18 schools that have been relocated and closed, we are aiming for a 100% asbestos removal rate by the winter vacation of 2026.” See: 충북교육청, 여름방학기간 중 석면 제거 관계자 교육 실시 [Chungbuk Office of Education conducts training for asbestos removal officials during summer vacation].

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]

After an eight-year wait, Brazilian and international asbestos watchers were optimistic that the Supreme Court’s (STF’s) definitive ruling on the illegality of asbestos exports would be handed down by March 14. As has happened so many times before, the delivery of an STF asbestos decision was upended. This time, the impasse was caused by Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, an appointee of the disgraced former President Jair Bolsonaro. Marques said he needed more time to consider the arguments of case ADI 6200. As he has been a STF Judge since November 5, 2020, one wonders why he had not found time to study the case files? There might be 103,000,000 reasons for this. [Read full article]

Two initiatives have come to the fore recently highlighting the human, environmental and ecological tragedy which has befallen Slovenia's picturesque Soča Valley. From 1921, this area was the heartland of the country's asbestos-cement industry with a sucession of companies routinely exposing thousands of workers and residents to carcinogenic asbestos fibers. A great debt is owed to author/researcher Jasmina Jerant and documentary photographer and filmmaker Manca Juvan who cast fresh eyes over an old scandal. Using their unique talents, they succeded in thrusting vital questions onto local, national and international agendas and once again forced us to question the compromises ordinary people are forced to make to provide for their families. [Read full article]

Brazilian asbestos, banned at home, continues to poison millions of people in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe etc. whilst simultaneously enriching Brazilian stakeholders. In 2023, international sales of Brazilian asbestos were worth $103,000,000, making Brazil the world’s 2nd largest exporter. Deadlines published by the Supreme Court (STF) for ending the legal limbo in which exports of this prohibited substance continued were inexplicably postponed in August and October 2024. On the eve of STF proceedings which could end the constitutional impasse, global campaigners issued a press release urging the Court to end this “immoral and unjustifiable double standard.” [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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