Review: Bad Dust, A History of the Asbestos Disaster 

by Laurie Kazan-Allen

 

 

Asbestos does not discriminate. It has killed people of all races and genders, rich and poor, factory workers, musicians, mechanics, film stars, miners, politicians, sailors and officers. Some of the deceased were acknowledged, most were not. In every case, the suffering endured by the injured and the loss experienced by the bereaved were horrendous.

Coming to terms with the premature death of a loved one, especially one caused by something that was so avoidable, is one of life’s most difficult challenges. Everyone has their own path through grief. Some people mobilize their talents and training to process their loss. This was almost certainly the case of US photographer Bill Ravanesi, British columnist Julie Burchill, Belgian documentary film-maker Daniel Lambo, Spanish Director Isabel Andrés Portí, Slovenian photojournalist Manca Juvan, French writer Virginie Dupeyroux and Italian author Alberto Prunetti. Responding to the death of a father or brother drove each of them to create a work of art that spoke not only of personal traumas but universal truths.

 


The father of Spanish film director Isabel Andrés Portí. Photo provided courtesy of the director.

 


Catalan language poster for the documentary: La Fibra Sensible [Moral Fibre]. Photo provided courtesy of the filmmakers.1

 


Alberto Prunetti and his father in this 1970s picture which appeared on the cover of the 2023 edition of the book Amianto. Una storia operaia (Asbestos. A working-class story). Picture courtesy of Alberto Prunetti.2

With the September 2025 publication of the book: Bad Dust, A History of the Asbestos Disaster Tom White joined the illustrious group of individuals who harnessed their grief to fuel their creativity. Driven by the need to understand the dynamics which led to his granddad’s death, Tom produced a piece of work that speaks to us all.

 


Albert Popple, the author’s granddad. Photo courtesy of Tom White.

In the preface to this work, the genesis of this project was clearly stated: the 1995 loss of his granddad Albert Popple who died, aged 64, just eight months after being diagnosed with asbestos cancer. Tom was seven years old. As an apprentice joiner during the post-WW II housing boom, Tom’s granddad worked on construction sites “piled high with wall and ceiling panels that contained the [asbestos] material.”

At the inquest the coroner ruled that Mr Popple:

“died from the industrial disease of malignant mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos… We are seeing more and more people like Mr Popple in this Court… Certainly, I think the industry should be made well aware of the dangers of asbestos.”

Of course, as the author pointed out, there was no need to make industry aware of the dangers, “they had known for decades.”

Within the 307-page text of Tom’s book, the author crafted a cohesive narrative from thousands of carefully researched documents and sources, analyzing and reporting on developments spread over several decades and locations. This was an intimate story set within a national and global context which considered a multiplicity of political, environmental, historical, economic and social factors: 19th century imperialism, racial capitalism, militarism, post-war social democracy, occupational health, neoliberalism, austerity, the successes and failures of British unions and the Labor movement.

On a personal level, I was pleased to see the pioneering work of UK asbestos campaigners Nancy Tait, Alan Dalton, Richard Jackson, Hazards and others highlighted; they delineated the issues and set the pace that many of us were to follow. The conclusion of Alan Dalton’s seminal work Asbestos Killer Dust: A worker/community guide rings as true today as it did when it was written in 1979: “Asbestos is the symptom of a sick society, not the disease. The real disease is a society that does not put the health of its people before all else.”

 


Hazards poster accessed from the Archives and Special Collections, University of Strathclyde Library (GB 249 OEDA/F/6/1/18) (Enlarge this image).

The birth of asbestos mining operations and the opening of asbestos factories fueled development in communities from South Africa, to Canada, the US, Russia, Italy, the UK and elsewhere. Little could the people caught up in this new industrial sector have envisioned the horrors that were to come. Even after the evidence became undeniable, asbestos industry spokespeople continued to reassure governments, workers and consumers that exposures to the “magic mineral” were harmless to human health. As Tom White’s exposition clearly shows, the causes of 21st asbestos deaths are firmly rooted in decisions made and actions taken decades ago.

Whilst some countries have faced up to their asbestos legacies, the UK hasn’t. Contrasting the UK’s continued failure to address the hazard with advances being made elsewhere – such as the program to remove asbestos from schools in South Korea, the establishment of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency in Australia and increasing EU workplace asbestos protections and lower permissible exposure levels – the author brought the debate up to date with his discussions of global warming and climate breakdown, austerity and Covid-19.

 


Photo courtesy of Tom White.

Bad Dust is a well-written book which ponders important subjects. Tom White’s research revealed the forces and actors responsible for creating one of the world’s worst occupational disasters and showcased the efforts of those who stood up for the rights of ordinary people. This text has earned its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested not only in the history of the asbestos tragedy but also in the unending struggle for a sustainable future, corporate accountability and environmental justice.

September 18, 2025

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1 The trailer for this film can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/1068802492. It will be screened at the European Parliament on September 24, 2025.

2 Amianto (Asbestos) was published in 2012, re-released in 2014 and reissued in 2023 by Feltrinelli, one of Italy’s biggest publishers.

 

 

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