News Archive

On May 2, 2025, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that an Osaka High Court verdict which had ordered the Government to compensate the family of an asbestos factory worker who died in 2020 would not be appealed; the Court had awarded the sum of ~6 million yen ($41,000) to the family, due to the state’s failure to take preventive and timely action on the workplace asbestos hazard. Government lawyers had told the court that the case had been time barred because of a 2019 change in the starting point for the statute of limitations. The High Court disagreed. See: State damages finalized over former worker's asbestosis in Japan.

Good News from Corsica!

May 9, 2025

After years of delays, demolition work will finally begin on the 30-hectare site of the former Canari asbestos factory on the French island of Corsica in October 2025; manufacturing operations at this industrial site ceased in 1965. The sum of €7 million (~US$8m) has been allocated for this work which is scheduled to be finished by June 2026. The tender for this complex project was won by Cardem, an asbestos removal specialist company which is part of the Vinci group. See: Démolition de l'usine d'amiante de Canari, en Haute-Corse: un chantier unique en Europe [Demolition of the Canari asbestos plant in Haute-Corse: a unique project in Europe].

Growing Support for Unilateral Ban

May 9, 2025

The article below cited medical, scientific and technical experts from Malaysia in support of recent civil society calls for a comprehensive and immediate ban on the use of all types of asbestos to be implemented by the Government. Amongst those quoted by reporter Harith Kamal were asbestos removal specialist Hisham Yahaya, International Islamic University of Malaysia Associate Professor Dr Muhammad Zubir Yusof and National University of Malaysia respiratory physician Associate Professor Dr Ng Boon Ha who warned of the regulatory gaps which still exist, such as the failure to ban the use of chrysotile asbestos even though the use of other types was outlawed years ago. See: Asbestos still in use despite known dangers.

Asbestos Legacy in Pristina

May 9, 2025

Politicians in Lipjan City, Kosovo are calling for the removal of asbestos-cement roofing on public buildings as a matter of urgency because of the continuing health hazard they pose to people in this Pristina District city. During a debate last week in the Municipal Assembly in Lipjan, Opposition leader Arsim Jashari said: “We have a fairly large number of public and private buildings in the municipality of Lipjan that were built years ago, so citizens can suffer direct damage from this asbestos material… municipal institutions must urgently engage in removing all this material from all public buildings.” Responding to Jashari’s comments, Lipjan’s Mayor Imri Ahmeti said work was underway in dealing with the issue. See: In Lipjan, urgent removal of asbestos materials from public buildings is required.

Asbestos on the Beach

May 9, 2025

Last week, New Zealand’s Education Ministry warned officials at 200 schools about asbestos contamination identified on Tāmaki estuary beaches. Officials at Glendowie School took immediate action to stop all school trips to local beaches which were known to be littered with asbestos-cement waste. According to Dr Julie Chambers, a spokesperson for the Tāmaki Estuary Protection Society: “There are a lot of very, very concerned residents.” The local council said that the risk was “considered extremely low to beach-users…” See: Asbestos-laden fibre cement board washing up on Tāmaki Estuary beaches.

Toxic Asbestos Legacy

May 9, 2025

An interview by reporter Antonio Valletta with journalist Giacinto Bevilacqua about his recent book “Mezzo litro di latte” (Half a Liter of Milk) was uploaded last week to a news portal in Venice, Italy. The title came from the common practice of asbestos companies in Italy to supply milk as a supposed antidote for workers at their toxic factories who spent their working lives engulfed in clouds of asbestos dust. Touching interviews with workers, widows, children, doctors, activists and trade unionists revealed the festering wounds, physical and emotional, left by this deadly industry. See: Quando mezzo litro di latte era l’antidoto: in un libro parlano le vittime dell’amianto [When half a liter of milk was the antidote: asbestos victims speak out in book].

São Paulo Legal Victory

May 6, 2025

Recognizing the causal link between workplace asbestos exposure and the asbestos lung cancer contracted by a retired worker, a São Paulo Regional Labor Court doubled to R$200,000 (US$35,000) the compensation for moral damages and awarded the 80-year-old retired Eternit worker a lifetime monthly pension equivalent to 100% of his final salary. The verdict condemned the company for failing to take timely measures to eliminate the use of asbestos from its production processes. See: Justiça concede dano moral e pensão mensal vitalícia a trabalhador com doença causada por inalação de amianto [Court awards moral damages and a lifetime monthly pension to a worker with a disease caused by asbestos inhalation].

Mesothelioma Research: Progress

May 6, 2025

“A significant step forward,” has been made in the treatment of the signature asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, according to Professor Gareth Griffiths, director of the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit and co-lead of the NERO trial which was conducted in 11 UK hospitals. The trial looked at the efficacy of using the PARP inhibitor niraparib which can kill cancer cells. The therapy, first used on breast and ovarian cancers, has been shown to improve outcomes for mesothelioma patients. More research will be carried out to identify measures “to stimulate an even better response in more people.” See: New hope for patients with asbestos-linked cancer.

Post-Disaster Asbestos Safety

May 6, 2025

A new resource is available online which has been developed by the United Nations Development Program (Ukraine) and Japan International Cooperation Agency to train people in Ukraine on the recommended procedures for dealing with asbestos contamination resulting from the destruction by Russian forces of 2.5 million+ homes, public and private buildings. This film was used recently during a two-day training program for officials from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine and the Kyiv Regional State Administration. See: United Nations Development Programme (Ukraine) and Japan International Cooperation Agency Training Resource.

Johnson & Johnson: Exposé

May 6, 2025

The article cited below is a review by Professor Perri Klass of “No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson (J&J),” by investigative reporter Gardiner Harris. Harris examined the secrets behind J&J’s continued sale of its asbestos-contaminated talc-based baby powder, before going on to discuss prescription drugs (Procrit, Risperdal), the ineffectual J&J coronavirus vaccine and faulty hip replacement devices. The book was, said the reviewer, “an indictment of a larger web of regulators and regulated, marketers and researchers — interlocking and interdependent in sometimes dangerous ways, and susceptible to imperatives that do not put our safety first.” See [subscription site but free access to one article]: ‘No More Tears’ exposes a company, and industry, imperiling consumers.

Commentary on Asbestos Stalemate

May 6, 2025

The Spanish language articled cited below from the Argentine online newspaper “Infobae” recapped Brazil’s struggle to ban asbestos, quoting leading campaigners who denounced the country’s failure to end the “environmental racism” represented by the production of asbestos fiber for export purposes only. Brazil, the author noted, “accounts for an estimated 10% of asbestos-related deaths worldwide, estimated at between 110,000 and 150,000, given that many go undiagnosed or unreported, especially in developing countries.” See: El amianto, una sustancia prohibida en Brasil, desató un intenso debate en el Supremo por una mina autorizada en Goiás [Asbestos, a banned substance in Brazil, sparked an intense debate in the Supreme Court over an authorized mine in Goiás].

Another Asbestos Death

May 6, 2025

It took Italian asbestos cancer victim G.C. months of agony to die in 2015 from the lung cancer he contracted as a result of hazardous workplace exposures. He had never been told of the dangers of working with asbestos. Although the family was awarded compensation of €1.5 million (US$1.7m), the horror of those months remains undimmed. See: Amianto, ex operaio muore di tumore dopo anni di lavoro. Alla famiglia 1,5 milioni: «Non conosceva i rischi, poi quel sangue...» [Asbestos, former worker dies of cancer after years of work. 1.5 million to the family: “He didn't know the risks, then that blood…”].

What’s in the Water?

May 2, 2025

Concern is growing in Scotland over reports of asbestos contamination in the water delivery system. Admitting that deteriorating asbestos-cement pipes are still being used for supplying public water, Scottish Water claims that it will take decades to replace the toxic pipes. The long delay to eradicate the carcinogenic hazard is being criticized by politicians, public health and legal specialists. The areas worst affected are Perth and Kinross, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, and Shetland. See: Fears over growing number of asbestos fibres in our drinking water.

World Day of Asbestos Victims

May 2, 2025

April 28, commemorated as International Workers’ Memorial Day all over the world, is also recognized in Italy as the World Day of Asbestos Victims. In Casale Monferrato, regarded as the heartland of Italy’s epidemic of asbestos-related diseases, honorary awards were bestowed by the Mayor of Turin on key “protagonists of the civil and judicial battle against asbestos.” Among those honored were: the Public Prosecutor of the first Eternit trial Raffaele Guariniello and campaigners Bruno Pesce and Nicola Pondrano, activists from Casale Monferrato’s victims’ association: AfeVA. See: Giornata Mondiale delle vittime dell’amianto: a Casale la memoria conferma l’impegno per salute e giustizia [World Day of Asbestos Victims: in Casale commemoration confirms commitment to health and justice].

New Tourist Attraction

May 2, 2025

A new museum housed in the original South Shaanxi Asbestos Mine Office Building in Miaoba Community, Da'an Town, Shaanxi Province covers an area of 270 square meters and is divided into 9 units: “introduction, hard work, eventful years, development heyday, honor, culture, production tools, product and mining history, and innovation and struggle.” With the decreasing demand for asbestos at home and abroad during the 21st century, it is believed that this mine, like some others in China, ceased operations. Even so, today China remains the world’s third largest producer of asbestos. See: 陕南石棉矿矿史馆在大安镇建成 [The History Museum of the Asbestos Mine in Southern Shaanxi Opens].

Historic Asbestos Test Case!

May 2, 2025

On May 13, 2025 a book will be published detailing the David & Goliath battle to hold former UK asbestos mining corporation Cape PLC to account for the damage done by its toxic operations in South Africa. Research on this case began in 1995 by London-based human rights lawyer Richard Meeran; by the time the final resolution of this case was achieved in 2004, thousands of clients had become part of this multijurisdictional class action. The book reads like a best seller as it unravels the twists and turns of this historic legal battle. It joins the pantheon of classic texts revealing the depths to which asbestos corporations will go to preserve the asbestos income stream. See: In a Rain of Dust. – Death, Deceit, and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos.

Mesothelioma Treatment Advances

May 2, 2025

The article cited below from the news portal California, US highlighted progress being made in the use of surgical techniques such as Extended Pleurectomy/Decortication and Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for extending survival rates of patients with the signature asbestos cancer pleural mesothelioma. “What’s particularly exciting,” wrote the author “about these surgical advancements is how well they integrate with other forms of therapy… [like] chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted radiation…” See: New Surgeries Giving Early Pleural Mesothelioma Patients a Better Shot.

Asbestos Exposures Toxic? Who Knew?

May 2, 2025

An April 27, 2025 article in Pravda – a Russian broadsheet newspaper which was formerly the official newspaper of the Communist Party – included the virtually unprecedented acknowledgement that exposure to asbestos-cement roofing tiles [slate] could be harmful. In the world’s biggest asbestos-producing nation, such an admission is never made. While the asbestos industry lobby maintains that these products “can be used safely under controlled conditions,” they never go as far as delving into the consequences of uncontrolled conditions. See: Шифер ломается не просто так: вот главная ошибка при монтаже [Slate doesn't just break: here's the main mistake during installation].

Post-disaster Hazard in Suzu

Apr 29, 2025

An on-site survey on April 10, 2025 of Hotel Kairakuso in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, which was damaged by the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, identified the presence of crocidolite (blue) asbestos in fireproofing material on beams and columns. Raising the alarm, Secretary-General Fuyushi Nagakura of the Asbestos Center was categorical: “Measures should immediately be taken to prevent the dispersal of the substance and inform volunteers of the danger.” Commenting on the situation, a representative of the Ishikawa Prefectural Government said: “we have asked the hotel to take steps to prevent dispersal and stop using volunteers. We will consider necessary actions based on the survey.” See: Highly carcinogenic asbestos found exposed to air at Noto quake-hit hotel in central Japan.

Deadly Industrial Legacy

Apr 29, 2025

On April 23, 2025 a high-level meeting was held at municipal chambers in Sardinia to discuss the serious asbestos legacy on the island, which includes health risks to the population as well as environmental contamination. Taking part in the discussions was Giampaolo Lilliu, President of the Association of Asbestos-exposed People, who highlighted the environmental asbestos disaster at the defunct asbestos factory sites in Oristano and Marrubiu. See: “A Oristano e Marrubiu siti industriali ad alto rischio amianto. La Regione finanzi le bonifiche” [“In Oristano and Marrubiu [are] industrial sites with a high risk of asbestos. The Region should finance reclamation”].

Asbestos Exempt from New Tariffs

Apr 29, 2025

Shocking news of yet another unexpected development from the White House this week with the news that asbestos was on the list of “critical” items excluded from new US tariffs. Although asbestos use was banned in 2024 by the Biden administration, it is still used by chlorine producers in a few factories. A spokesperson for the American Chemistry Council (ACC), which had argued that the ban could hurt the chlorine industry, said the ACC “played no role in lobbying for asbestos to get a tariff exemption and didn’t know why it was included.” See: Politically Connected Firms Benefit From Trump Tariff Exemptions Amid Secrecy, Confusion.

Scottish Water Denounced by MSP

Apr 29, 2025

Earlier this month, the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands questioned Scottish Water about its continued use of 5,816 km of asbestos-containing water mains pipes. According to a Freedom of Information reply, it may take until 2072 for these pipes to be replaced. Scottish Water said that most of the £40 million being spent every year on remediation work was for the replacement of deteriorating asbestos pipes which were susceptible to frequent breakages. See: Scottish Water criticised over ‘slow removal of dangerous’ asbestos water pipes in Caithness and other rural areas.

Approval for Mesothelioma Drug

Apr 29, 2025

Last week, Health Canada – “the department of the Government of Canada responsible for national health policy” – approved the use of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma. This decision was taken based on phase 3 trial results which showed improvements in survival, progression-free survival and an elevated response rate with the combination therapy. In September 2024, the US FDA also approved the use of this therapy for the treatment of mesothelioma patients. See: Health Canada Approves Pembrolizumab/Chemotherapy for Unresectable, Advanced or Metastatic Pleural Mesothelioma.

Asbestos Discovery on Patrol Boats

Apr 29, 2025

Earlier this month Spain’s Customs Surveillance Service, a unit of the Tax Agency, admitted that asbestos had been found on one of its fleet of Alcaraván patrol boats. All four of the vessels in the fleet were mothballed until further tests were carried out. Commenting on this discovery, a spokesperson from the SIAT trade union said: “It is inconceivable that vessels over 40 years old continue to carry out operational tasks. The last risk assessment review took place in 2016. SIAT has been requesting that the frequency of risk assessment reviews for each vessel be defined." See: La Agencia Tributaria deja en puerto sus patrulleras más antiguas tras encontrar fibras de amianto cancerígeno, material prohibido desde 2002 [Tax Agency leaves oldest patrol boats in port after finding carcinogenic asbestos fibers, a material banned since 2002].

Trade Union Press Release

Apr 24, 2025

A statement issued on April 17, 2025 by the National Education Union (NEU) – the largest education union in the UK and Europe – at its 2025 annual conference in Harrogate highlighted the deadly consequences of continuing government neglect of school infrastructure: “School building safety is of paramount importance, yet successive governments have paid lip service to it, especially where asbestos is concerned. The number of school staff and former pupils who have died from mesothelioma as a result of being exposed to asbestos at school continues to grow.” See: Health and safety in education – learning from Grenfell.