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At a March 11, 2025 cabinet meeting in Nairobi chaired by Kenya’s President William Ruto, a nationwide plan to remove asbestos from all private and public buildings was approved. This measure was adopted to protect public health and safety. In a press statement about the project, it was stated that “the National Environment Management Authority will oversee the safe removal, disposal, and handling of asbestos.” Local authorities around the country were urged to set up designated disposal sites and property owners were advised that they would have to pay for the decontamination work. See: Cabinet approves nationwide asbestos removal from all public, private buildings.

Jose Virgilio Fernandez, the owner of the Rhode Island Safety Environment Training Center, has been sentenced to two years’ probation for claiming payment for 20 individuals who, he alleged, had attended and completed an Environmental Protection Administration (EPA)-approved abatement training program between 2021 and 2023. In fact, the only person who attended these courses was an undercover EPA agent. On October 1, 2025, Fernandez pleaded guilty to a federal charge of making false statements. See: School Owner Sentenced for Falsifying Asbestos Removal Training Documents.

In the March 12, 2025 issue of the HSE ebulletin there was an update detailing the state of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) schools’ asbestos inspection program. Inspections carried out in 2023-24 showed “that most schools are complying with their legal duties and have effective systems in place to manage and monitor the condition of asbestos-containing materials.” Common problems included: insufficient asbestos training for members of staff and contractors; inadequate preparation for emergency work; lack of vigor in checking contractors’ credentials. See: HSE inspections of schools to assess the management of asbestos.

Serious concerns have been expressed about the risk to public health posed by fresh produce grown in the 2024 earthquake zone which may be contaminated with asbestos fibers. A Turkish asbestos removal specialist warned the public "Do not consume without washing.” Uncontrolled asbestos removal work in earthquake-affected areas is spreading contamination so that local people and agricultural products from the earthquake areas are affected. By failing to regulate the work of contractors and developers, the authorities are allowing a second disaster to occur. See: Soframızda Asbest Olabilir! [We may have asbestos on our table!].

Generations of people in the Italian town of Pistoia, Tuscany died as a result of employment at the Breda railway works where, for decades, asbestos exposures were commonplace. A book about this toxic workplace was published by trade unionist Andrea Vignozzi to commemorate the years of struggle for workers’ rights and remember the victims. The text included interviews with workers, factory delegates, political and union leaders, relatives of deceased workers, lawyers and archivists. The book was launched at a reception at the San Giorgio library on Saturday, March 15, 2025. See: Amianto, la vertenza: "Veleno in polvere". La storia in un libro [Asbestos, the dispute: “Poison in powder.” History in a book].

On March 13, 2025, an article by US and Chinese researchers was published in the open access journal Scientific Reports that investigated the impact of various risk factors on lung cancer mortality (LCM) in non-smokers. The scientists found that: “occupational exposure to asbestos is another significant factor, with studies indicating that asbestos-related lung cancer (ARLC) incidence is six times larger than mesothelioma incidence, marking it as a critical health concern.” Amongst follow-up measures suggested by the coauthors of this paper was further consideration of how to reduce the prevalence of identified risk factors as part of lung cancer prevention strategies. See: Disentangling the effects of various risk factors and trends in lung cancer mortality.

Following a February 2024 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which condemned Switzerland for failing to guarantee access to a fair hearing, on March 10, 2025 the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ordered that the verdict in a case brought by the surviving family of asbestos cancer victim Marcel Jann be referred back to the lower court, the Glarus Cantonal Court, for adjudication. The ECHR had criticized the application by the Swiss Court of protocols which time-barred the family’s compensation claim. See: Corte svizzera respinge sentenza sull’amianto, nuovo appello accolto senza precedent [Swiss Court rejects asbestos ruling, new appeal accepted without precedent].

In a March 9, 2025 press release issued by the Belgian Asbestos Victims Association (ABEVA), it was announced that Xavier Jonckheere, the brother of the late ABEVA President Eric Jonckheere (2024), had also contracted the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Eric and Xavier’s parents Pierre Jonckheere (1987) and Françoise (2000), brothers Pierre-Paul (2003) and Stéphane (2009), all died from mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos liberated by the operations of the Eternit Belgium factory in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Belgium. See: Communiqué de presse du 9 mars 2025: Amiante: la famille Jonckheere encore touchée [Press release March 9, 2025: Asbestos: the Jonckheere family struck again].

The Class B Asbestos Removal Licence for an unnamed asbestos removal company in the state of South Australia was canceled on January 16, 2025 for 12 months by SafeWork SA. The action was taken after a successful prosecution of the company for infringements of asbestos regulations during demolition work in 2024 at two adjoining domestic properties in Adelaide without having removed asbestos in situ before work began. The prosecution was part of a ten-month audit campaign targeting more than 100 licensed asbestos assessors and removalists. See: Asbestos campaign leads to licence cancellation.

According to a news release from the Gwangju Metropolitan Board of Education, South Korea, asbestos removal and demolition projects at 16 schools – 7 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 4 high schools – were completed on schedule during the winter holiday, allowing children and staff to return to remediated premises in time for the new semester. The city's Board of Education plans to complete asbestos eradication from all schools within its jurisdiction by 2026. See: 광주시교육청, 학교 석면해체·제거 개학 전 완료 [Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, School Asbestos Dismantling and Removal Completed Before the Start of the New Year].

The cancer hazard posed to French citizens from the continued presence of deteriorating asbestos-cement pipes within the national water delivery system was highlighted in the text of the article cited below. According to a 2020 study by the French National Institute for Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Research, 36,000 kilometers of these toxic pipes remain in place throughout the country. See [subscription site]: Canalisations en amiante: “La priorité absolue est de mesurer la présence de fibres dans l’eau” [Asbestos pipes: “The absolute priority is to measure the presence of fibers in the water”].

Individuals and companies have been offered financial incentives by the national authorities in Italy to remove asbestos from homes and commercial buildings. Home owners can apply for a partial reimbursement of up to €48,000 (US$52,400) for decontamination work by specialist contractors on each property. In addition, for certain work, applications can be made for a reduction in the VAT rate. There are also financial incentives offered by regions and municipalities to encourage the removal of asbestos from the built environment in their areas. See: Bonus amianto 2025: chi può richiederlo e perché affrettarsi prima della scadenza [Asbestos bonus 2025: who can apply and why hurry before the deadline].

The Labor Court in São Caetano do Sul (Greater São Paulo) ordered Saint-Gobain, the owner of the Brasilit company, to pay compensation of R$1 million (US$170,860) to the family of a worker who died of pleural mesothelioma as a result of workplace exposure to asbestos. The deceased had been employed at the Brasilit factory in São Caetano do Sul. See [subscription site]: Empresa é condenada a pagar R$ 1 mi a família de trabalhador morto após uso de amianto [Company ordered to pay R$1 million to family of worker killed after using asbestos].

The current issue of the newsletter of Uralasbest – Russia’s 2nd biggest asbestos conglomerate – which was uploaded on March 6, 2025 boasted of the asbestos industry’s ongoing preparations for the upcoming meeting of the UN’s Rotterdam Treaty. Once again, asbestos spokesmen pledged, all efforts will be made to prevent the categorization of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance. Buried in the text, was an interesting disclosure about the fall in domestic asbestos demand amidst growing calls to ban asbestos even in Russia, the world’s biggest asbestos producer. See: Хризотиловая ассоциация К Женеве готовы! [Chrysotile Association Ready for Geneva!].

A feature article uploaded on Sunday, March 9, 2025 documented increasing pressure for the replacement of 600 km of deteriorating asbestos-cement pipes being used in the water delivery system of Regina, the capital city of the Canadian State of Saskatchewan. A 2010 government report confirmed that the composition of the aging pipes, which are 20% asbestos, was a cause for concern as they could release “asbestos fibre into the drinking water and could pose a hazard of malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract and other organs in consumers.” See: Research shows asbestos cement water pipes pose health risks to Regina residents.

The article cited below recapped the background to the ongoing deliberations at the Brazilian Supreme Court regarding a Goiás state law which directly contravened a Supreme Court (STF) decision outlawing the production, processing and sale of asbestos fiber. A final decision is expected by March 14, 2025 with campaigners hopeful that the STF’s verdict will support their efforts to protect Brazilian citizens and others from potentially lethal exposures to an acknowledged carcinogen. See: Banido no país, amianto volta a ser pauta no STF por causa de lei em Goiás [Banned in the country, asbestos is once again on the agenda of the STF due to a law in Goiás].

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]

There is a special place in hell reserved for the panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which on November 27, 1991 derailed an incipient US ban on asbestos. The knock-on effect of the verdict was that asbestos use remained legal for another 33 years, creating yet more asbestos victims. It was with a pronounced sense of déjà vu that on Friday, February 21, 2025 I learned that the same court had acceded to demands from the Trump administration to pause implementation of a 2024 national asbestos ban. Under the administration of Republican President George W. Bush the asbestos cancer risk to Americans was ignored in 1991; knowing what we do about Donald Trump, is it likely that the outcome will be different this time around? [Read full article]

A statement issued on February 13th conveyed news of yet another win by Indonesian campaigners against asbestos vested interests. After six months of hearings, motions and deliberations, Chief Judge of the Central Jakarta District Court Marper Pandiangan threw out legal arguments by the asbestos manufacturers association (FICMA) which had sought huge damages from civil society groups following a March 2024 Supreme Court ruling mandating warning labels for asbestos roofing products. FICMA has until the middle of March to file an appeal. [Read full article]

News that the Republic of Moldova banned asbestos late last year must have sent a seismic shock to asbestos producers in Russia and Kazakhstan. Although Moldova had in recent years consumed little or no asbestos – in 2022 Moldova imported a mere $16,400 worth of asbestos, 80% of which came from Russia – the elimination of yet another national market will almost certainly intensify the high level of anxiety being experienced by asbestos stakeholders. Throughout the region, asbestos markets are looking increasingly unstable with mounting challenges of pro-asbestos rhetoric and growing awareness among national governments of the high costs being incurred by society for industry profits. [Read full article]

In the run-up to the glitzy 2025 awards season which sees recognition for stars of stage and screen, the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) is acknowledging impactful work of a different kind. Winners of the Screen Actors Guild, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe and Critics Choice receive imposing and tasteful statuettes to mark their successes. Not so the “winners” of the IBAS Devil’s Dust Awards 2025 whose ruthless promotion of an acknowledged carcinogen and/or suppression of victims’ rights have earned them a rather revolting accolade: a virtual avatar appropriately nicknamed the Lucifer. With so many potential candidates, it was hard to chose this year’s “winners.” The entities named in this years Dishonors List come from Brazil, France & Indonesia. Want to know more? Read on. [Read full article]

As recently as 2020, Russia was the world’s leading supplier of asbestos, accounting for 65% of global output. A mere three years later this figure had fallen to 48% with Russian producers facing falling demand and increasing competition. In the December 2024 newsletter produced by Uralasbest, Russia’s second biggest asbestos conglomerate, its General Director explained that among the challenges the company faced in 2024 were bureaucratic hurdles and logistical obstructions – i.e. persistent and continuing disruptions to asbestos cargo rail shipments. What he failed to mention, however, was the progress being achieved by global campaigners which has “significantly reduced the possibility of exporting chrysotile asbestos… [and created] the crisis faced by asbestos-producing businesses.” [Read full article]

Against the backdrop of a continuing decrease in global asbestos consumption, work to quantify and address toxic industrial legacies was continued this year by grassroots campaigners, civil society stakeholders, national, regional and international authorities. Amongst high-profile topics debated in multiple jurisdictions were the asbestos contamination of schools, water delivery systems and the built environment; the risks posed by asbestos in personal hygiene products and cosmetics; and the unregulated and unsafe dumping of asbestos waste. Technological developments and the building of infrastructure by asbestos stakeholders made manifest their intention to continue profiting from asbestos sales despite the health hazards. It is clear that despite our many successes, much work remains to be done. [Read full article]

In light of many positive comments he has made over the last 30+ years about the efficacy of asbestos – eg. “asbestos is the greatest fireproofing material ever used” – international campaigners have been discussing what the new Presidency of Donald Trump could mean for the global asbestos dialogue. Two US experts consulted by the author of this article felt that given the small amount of asbestos used in the US now and the pending abolition of most uses, Trump would have little interest in attacking the new asbestos prohibitions being introduced. One can but hope. [Read full article]

Last week, global ban asbestos groups issued a joint press release in defence of Indonesian activists at the Independent Consumer Protection Institute (LPKSM), the Yasa Nata Budi Foundation and the Indonesian Ban Asbestos Network (INABAN) working to protect the population from deadly exposures to asbestos. In a blatant disregard for occupational and public health, the Fiber Cement Manufacturing Association – a powerful and well-resourced trade association representing the interests of the asbestos industry – is suing the campaigners for “massive damages” after a Supreme Court ruling upheld their petition to mandate labelling on asbestos products. [Read full article]

Mobilization on the asbestos hazard has been ongoing in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories for a number of years with work by personnel from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and partnering organizations bringing positive results, such as the 2024 ban on asbestos imports and use in the Republic of Nauru (gazetted on October 10 and 30, respectively). Significant developments in protecting populations from deadly asbestos exposures have also been achieved in Niue, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In the shadow of the UN’s 29th Climate Change Conference, it is clearer than ever that asbestos technology is neither sustainable nor acceptable and must be banned. [Read full article]

The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) was founded in November 1999 by Laurie Kazan-Allen in collaboration with colleagues in North and Latin America, Asia, Europe and Australia to achieve justice for the injured and coalesce the global fight to ban asbestos. Over the next 25 years, this virtual consortium of activists organized, sponsored or participated in events and initiated or supported projects to achieve these objectives on six continents. The article marking IBAS’ 25th anniversary recalled the challenges faced, the memories amassed, the victories achieved and the setbacks faced. Input from global ban asbestos campaigners included in this review delineated the “IBAS Effect” as they experienced it. [Read full article]

On November 19 & 20, 2024, delegates from Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a meeting organized by the Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN), its international and local partners. At the completion of the event, a joint press release was issued calling on the Malaysian Government “to urgently impose an outright ban on all types of asbestos products being manufactured in the country and halt any further imports of chrysotile asbestos fibre.” According to Malaysian trade union official David Arul, asbestos use “persists in several Malaysian industries, exposing countless workers to preventable harm.” [Read full article]

Some might think that the holding last month (October 2024) of a meeting in Russia to progress peace and stability amongst nations belonging to the BRICS coalition might be deemed inappropriate given Russia’s continuing attacks on Ukraine. Nevertheless, representatives of 35 countries and 6 international organizations turned up in droves to the 16th annual BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. The participants were addressed by President Putin who spoke of “mutual respect,” “open dialogue,” and “sovereign policies.” A mysterious article, which appeared and disappeared after a few hours, however, revealed that Russia’s motivation for the creation and support of BRICS was totally self-serving, citing its importance in expanding foreign markets for home-grown asbestos. [Read full article]

In recent weeks there has been a flurry of media coverage in newspapers and online about various aspects of the UK’s asbestos epidemic. Simultaneously, the Daily Mail launched a campaign – Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer – to establish a digital national asbestos database to prevent avoidable exposures as part of “a long-term strategic plan to eradicate asbestos risk from British infrastructure.” It’s pretty damning that more than a century after the asbestos hazard was first acknowledged by the British Government, so little has been done. One can but hope that the new 335 MPs, who constitute a majority of the House of Commons, will be more proactive on this deadly workplace hazard than their predecessors. [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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