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A New Zealand Disputes Tribunal ordered the Kmart retail chain to pay $15,185.42 to cover costs associated with asbestos testing and remediation to parents Elle Chrisp and David Dingwall whose toddlers played with asbestos-contaminated sand sold by Kmart. According to referee Cynthia Hawes, the sand should not have been offered for sale as it “was unsafe, not fit for purpose and not of acceptable quality under the Consumer Guarantees Act.” See: Disputes Tribunal orders Kmart to pay Christchurch couple over contaminated sand.

According to South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, medical personnel at the new health screening camps set up in the former asbestos mining town of Mafafe, Limpopo Province and surrounding high-risk areas are utilizing “ultra-portable digital X-ray machines to improve early detection of asbestos-related illnesses…” Abandoned asbestos mines throughout the Province pose an ongoing health hazard as the remediation work carried out at these sites was inadequate or incomplete. See: Health Dept rolls out portable X-ray machines for early asbestos detection.

During an August 17th, 2026 press conference, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg called on the municipal school district to improve the oversight of renovations being carried out in schools contaminated with asbestos. After millions of dollars were spent over nearly two years, it is still not safe for 400+ pupils and 90 staff members to return to Kensington High School. Alternative premises at the Austin Meehan Middle School were secured seven miles away. See: Philadelphia’s school asbestos problem is already derailing back-to-school.

The sinking in 2023 of Brazil’s former flagship the São Paulo by the Brazilian Navy was retold in the article cited below. Purchased from France in 2000 for $12 million, the vessel never really lived up to expectations. It was plagued with mechanical faults and contained a cocktail of lethal materials including asbestos and heavy metals. After being rejected for scrapping by several destinations the 32,800-ton ship returned to Brazilian waters and was sunk about 350 kilometers off the country’s northeastern coast. See: Brazil Sank a 32,900-ton Aircraft Carrier Carrying 9.6 Tons of Toxic Asbestos 3 Miles Into the Atlantic.

It was reported last week that Hungary’s Minister of Social and Family Affairs Vilmos Kátai-Németh had filed a criminal complaint against an unknown defendant who had signed off in 2022 on the acquisition of 400 expensive containerized boilers, some of which were made in China and contained asbestos, a substance banned in Hungary. The boilers were purchased for use in social and state institutions. The Chinese boilers were never used after an engineering report found they “didn't meet environmental, electrical, fire safety, and occupational safety regulations…” See: Orbán government may have ordered asbestos-contaminated containerized boilers for social institutions, minister files complaint.

Italy’s Ministry of Health issued an alert to families, schools, nurseries, childcare facilities and municipalities warning them not to buy or use a 17 centimeters long elastic carrot toy which was found to be contaminated with tremolite asbestos. The toxic toy, which was made in China, was previously recalled by the EU Safety Gate Alert system as per notification SR/01963/26. According to the Ministry, the matter of how to dispose of the toxic toy was left to local authorities. See: Allerta del Ministero della Salute per Giocattolo Contenente Amianto [Ministry of Health Warning for Toy Containing Asbestos].

On August 17, 2026, a new initiative was implemented in Mafefe – a former asbestos mining town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa; the local population is suffering from a “public health crisis caused by unmitigated environmental asbestos contamination from mines that largely shut down over four decades [ago].” The inauguration of the integrated community medical program, was attended by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba. Local people, including former miners, will be screened for a range of asbestos-related diseases. See: Motsoaledi, Ramathuba to Lead Asbestos Health Screening Drive in Mafefe.

After a wait of 18 years, Brazil’s former asbestos giant Eternit S.A. was ordered to pay compensation of R$2.3 million (US$441,000) for the 2008 mesothelioma death of a 66-year-old worker. The unanimous decision was handed down on August 12 by the Superior Labor Court in São Paulo, which acknowledged the link between the deceased’s toxic workplace exposures and the deadly asbestos cancer he contracted. See: Eternit é condenada em R$ 2,3 milhões por morte de trabalhador exposto a amianto [Eternit ordered to pay R$2.3 million in damages for the death of a worker exposed to asbestos].

Asbestos victims are generally assumed to be male construction, mining or factory workers. This stereotype is no longer accurate, if it ever was. According to a new analysis uploaded earlier this month to the website of Australia’s Trade Union Abroad – APHEDA: “Across Asia and the Pacific, where asbestos-containing materials are still manufactured and used… women, migrant workers, informal workers, children, older people, and persons with disabilities are affected by asbestos exposure.” Many of those at highest risk are “invisible” workers, employed in the informal sector and/or engaged in emergency response and recovery services. See: Asbestos Is a Gender Justice Issue.

On August 13, 2026, Dr. Mamo B. Mamo – the Director General of Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) – gave evidence to a parliamentary committee on national efforts to implement a national asbestos ban. Also discussed during the session were safe disposal guidelines for asbestos material and the schedule for remediating and/or demolishing asbestos-contaminated public buildings. Before prohibitions were in place, asbestos roofing was widely used in Kenya for “government housing, educational institutions, and public infrastructure projects…” See: NEMA Chief Summoned to Parliament Over Status of Asbestos Ban Implementation.

The ecological remediation of abandoned asbestos mines in China’s Sichuan region to improve the habitat for Giant Pandas remains an ongoing challenge as explained by the August 15th article cited below. Restoration work of the area began in 2010 with an initial three-year plan for work on the 250.93-hectare site. By last year (2025), the project had reached a phase of routine management with local people praising the safer living conditions in nearby communities. See: 石棉县：矿山的“新衣”如何穿得漂亮、穿得牢固？丨和谐共生 [Shimian County: How to Give Mines a “New Look” That Is Both Beautiful and Durable? | Harmonious Coexistence].

A paper published on August 10, 2026 in the peer-reviewed journal of Applied Sciences as part of the 2nd Edition of the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Healthcare series examined the feasibility of using “an automated framework for detecting pleural plaques (PPs) at the patient level using a single chest CT scan.” A testing protocol for PPs was developed by French researchers; it was used to evaluate health records of 1,241 retired workers with known occupational asbestos exposures. The authors of the study concluded that the new procedure had a “strong potential for automated patient-level identification of pleural plaques from a single CT scan.” See: AI-Driven Automated Detection of Pleural Plaques on Chest CT Scans in Retired Asbestos-Exposed Workers.

It was reported on August 13, 2026 that Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS) had categorized as “uninhabitable” houses with asbestos roofs because they did not meet building durability criteria and posed a health risk. Unfortunately, many properties in the country are covered with asbestos-cement roofing materials and tiles. According to the head of the BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti “the highest percentage of households using asbestos roofs by province are in the Bangka Belitung Islands (56.7%) followed by Jakarta (54.6%).” See: BPS: Rumah Beratap Asbes Masuk Tak Layak Huni, Bangka Belitung Tertinggi [BPS: Asbestos-Roofed Houses Ranked Uninhabitable, Bangka Belitung Highest].

Another stunning piece of investigative journalism was uploaded on August 10, 2026 to the Confront Power website. Having reviewed the history of asbestos use on the London underground system, the article examined stories told by past and current employees who had experienced toxic workplace exposures. It was shocking to read the description of recent asbestos incidents provided by underground worker and whistleblower Micky Steeds who in March 2026 finally won his case at an employment tribunal for his unfair dismissal in 2023. See: Mind the dust: Asbestos disease and the London Underground.

On August 11 & 13, 2026, EU asbestos recalls were issued for three toxic toys, all of which contained contaminated sand with asbestos measuring up to 5% by weight. The toy recalled on August 11 by Alert number SR/02251/26 was a Super Stretchy Soldier and was made in the Netherlands. The toys recalled on August 13 were by Alert number SR/02291/26 a stretchy mouse toy made in China and by Alert number: SR/02290/26 Fun Sand Scented Blueberry. This brings the total number of EU asbestos recalls for toys this year to 60. See:
Alert number: SR/02251/26. Super Stretchy Soldier.
Alert number: SR/02290/26. Fun Sand Scented Blueberry.
Alert number: SR/02291/26. Sand-filled stretchy mouse toy.

US military bases in the Pacific command contain a lethal cocktail of toxic materials, including asbestos, according to a heavily redacted report by the Pentagon. Following on-site inspections at 11 US facilities, an emergency management advisory was issued in August with the full report going to senior Defence Department officials. According to unnamed Pentagon sources, the built environment on the bases was suffering “severe degradation” as “many of the buildings date back to the 1970s,” a time when the use of asbestos-containing material was routine. See: US Pacific bases severely degraded, Pentagon inspector-general warns.

The launch in the Philippines of the National Framework for the Prevention of Asbestos-Related Diseases last month marked “a milestone moment” in the national campaign to end asbestos mortality. Rejecting disinformation and propaganda spread by asbestos vested interests, the actions outlined in the Framework accepted the fundamental tenet that: “there's no safe level of asbestos exposure, and tackling it takes everyone working together, not just one agency acting alone.” The comprehensive roadmap delineated at the July event by the Philippine Department of Health was supported by representatives from the government, unions, industry, health agencies and international organizations in attendance. [Read full article]

A Tribunal in New Zealand handed down a ruling on August 17, 2026 holding Kmart – a major toy retailer in Australasia – to account for all the costs incurred by consumers who purchased asbestos-contaminated toys sold by Kmart in Christchurch. As a media statement from Consumer NZ, an independent consumers’ advocacy group, explained: “this is the first Disputes Tribunal ruling in New Zealand concerning the recalled children’s sand.” The Tribunal found that the play sand was “unsafe, not fit for purpose and not of acceptable quality under the Consumer Guarantees Act.” We believe that this is the first such ruling anywhere which ordered a company to pay for decontamination of a claimant’s home and garden as well as other related costs. Thank you to Consumer NZ for permission to upload this text. [Read full article]

Powerful political forces are aligning in Indonesia to support grassroots efforts to eradicate the asbestos hazard from southeast Asia’s largest asbestos-consuming country. Following shortly after the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto issued a warning about the cancer hazard posed by the use of asbestos roofing, a statement was released by the Central Statistics Agency which categorized houses with asbestos roofs as “uninhabitable” because they did not meet building durability criteria and posed a health risk. The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Environment strongly recommend that asbestos-free roofing should be used to protect Indonesians from toxic exposures to an acknowledged carcinogen. [Read full article]

A coalition of civil society groups representing asbestos victims, occupational health and safety campaigners and medical experts from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australasia is delighted to announce the winners of The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat Children’s Champions Award 2026. All of the people and organizations recognized were “accidental activists” who were drawn into a critical situation not of their making. Individually and collectively they demanded answers about sales of potentially damaging children’s products in New Zealand and Australia. By so doing, they protected the lives of children at home and abroad. As UK campaigner Lynne Squibb said “The world is a safer place for the actions of Elle, David, Benjamin, Terri-Ann, Michael, Robert, Jason and their colleagues.” [Read full article]

With the interconnectivity facilitated by contemporary means of communication, news about the contamination of children’s toys broadcast in late 2025 in New Zealand and Australia reverberated around the world in a matter of days. The discoveries which led to the global alert set off a chain reaction which resulted in recalls of toxic toys in multiple jurisdictions. For the first time, the story of how a few routine tests in a Brisbane laboratory led to international outrage, consumer mobilization and political confusion is recounted by those involved. I’m in no doubt that you’ll be able to see it in a Netflix miniseries before too long, but in the meantime you can read all about it here. [Read full article]

Opposition is growing in India – the world’s biggest asbestos market – to it’s massive use of a mineral classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 carcinogen. In 2024, 98,000 people in India died from lung cancer, a disease caused not only by smoking but also by exposures to asbestos and other toxins. Of course, lung cancer is not the only disease caused by asbestos exposures and there is no doubt that if the authorities investigate, they will find increasing numbers of patients with mesothelioma, cancers of the larynx and ovaries, asbestosis and pleural thickening. The data on the explosion in lung cancer incidence should be a wakeup call for Indian civil society and national regulators. The time has come for asbestos use to be phased out – it is a matter of life and death. [Read full article]

Whilst researching an article entitled: Report from the Asbestos Frontline: Summer 2026, I was astonished to see the widespread availability via online retail portals of products containing large amounts of asbestos, in some cases as much as 100%. Further investigations by colleagues in Malaysia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Indonesia and India, revealed a dizzying array of high-content asbestos material on sale in many Asian and East European countries. Despite the known risks posed by the use of products containing a group 1 carcinogen, there were no health hazard warnings visible in the advertisements. [Read full article]

There have been many historical events which took the world by surprise: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the results of the Brexit referendum, to name just a few. Looking back, however, the signs were there if only people had stopped to look. A look at recent developments in the few asbestos-producing countries which remain indicates that change could be on the horizon. The fortunes of asbestos vested interests in Brazil, China, Russia and Kazakhstan are, like those of other commercial enterprises, susceptible to adverse judicial rulings, social and environmental trends, changing market forces and international sanctions. The writing is on the wall! [Read full article]

The war to end the asbestos slaughter is not just being fought in countries where asbestos use remains legal; battles are ongoing elsewhere over illegal sales of toxic products and historic environmental pollution. The foot soldiers in these skirmishes are parents, local people and regional politicians as well as civil society campaigners, all of whom face daunting challenges as they engage powerful industrial, commercial and government vested interests. A new text which documented key developments in Asia, Oceania and Europe this summer substantiated the author’s conclusion that: “In the fight to end asbestos mortality, there are no civilians: every one of us is on the frontline.” [Read full article]

Earlier this month (July), asbestos victims’ groups in England, Scotland and Wales. and UK cancer charities mounted a myriad of events to remember those lost to deadly asbestos-related diseases. New government data confirmed the lived experience of these campaigners: the country’s asbestos epidemic continues to cause a massive loss of life more than 20 years after asbestos was banned. New toxic exposures continue as a result of asbestos material remaining within the national infrastructure and the import and sale of asbestos-contaminated play sand, toys and decorative household goods. [Read full article]

Global concern over dangerous discoveries in Hungary prompted campaigning groups from around the world to issue a formal statement regarding the “unfolding health emergency in the Hungarian town of Szombathely.” In the Open Letter to Hungarian and EU officials, the signatories stressed that: “The situation is time critical. The health of nearly 1,500 local residents as well as ~1,000 people living in the surrounding streets is being endangered every single day, with children at the highest risk of contracting asbestos-related cancers and diseases!” Government and EU officials in Budapest and Brussels were urged “to stand in solidarity with Szombathely and protect the health of all those at risk from this man-made disaster” (click ide a magyar verzióért of this letter). [Read full article]

Indonesia is a significant asbestos market, both in terms of the amount of asbestos it imports and its strategic importance. To compensate for the collapse of global demand, asbestos vested interests are fighting tooth and nail to protect this market and others like it. Despite the backroom deals and political pressure – as evinced by the latest asbestos industry initiative designed to lock Indonesia into many more years of asbestos imports and use – grassroots campaigners continue their efforts to end the slaughter by raising asbestos awareness, progressing multi-stakeholder collaborations and using well-honed tactics to implement an effective and targeted strategy to eradicate asbestos-related deaths. [Read full article]

June 13, 2026 was a day of surprises. Within a few hours, news was circulated of landmark developments substantiating progress made in the fight for asbestos victims’ rights in Brazil, the UK and Belgium. To someone who is “old school” when it comes to the news, the fact that the links for all these stories came via social media posts rather than mainstream media sources was disconcerting. It pains me to say – as I am no lover of social media – that, from what I have seen, when you are looking for news of real substance the place to look is no longer traditional outlets but hysteria-free platforms like LinkedIn. [Read full article]

IBAS is delighted to be hosting the English translation of a Portuguese language editorial uploaded last week (see: Associação Brasileira dos Expostos ao Amianto: 30 anos de luta pelos direitos dos trabalhadores) to the website of the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Health. Permission to do so was granted by coauthor Leila Posenato Garcia. Reflecting on the importance of the work accomplished since 1995 by the Brazilian Association of Asbestos Exposed Workers (ABREA), the authors recognized that “ABREA’s trajectory is intertwined with the construction of the Occupational Health field in Brazil.” [Read full article]

IBAS is privileged to upload this article by K. Ambroise Troveh, a specialist in transmission electron microscopy and hazardous fiber analysis. This feature highlighted the gap in African countries between the “promulgation of prohibitive texts and the very limited enforcement and monitoring mechanisms on the ground.” As nations in the Global North banned asbestos use, manufacturers targeted African markets in countries “under severe budgetary constraints.” Low levels of public asbestos awareness and lack of technical capacity and epidemiological data deterred governments from addressing asbestos challenges. Organizations such as the pan-African OHS Africa Foundation and the Inter-African Committee of Asbestos Experts are working assiduously to remedy this situation. [Read full article]

A recent investigation by a network of concerned citizens revealed that a toy found to be carcinogenic by multiple national authorities and media outlets was being sold via online marketplaces in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin and North America. Considering the sophisticated communications of e-commerce platforms in 2026, it is beyond belief that retailers such as Ozon in Eastern Europe, Amazon India, Rozetka in Ukraine and educational toy specialists like GoodDo Bangladesh and Fangotoys Ecuador were unaware of the evidence documenting the very real health hazard posed by the use of the toxic toy: WordPad. Until there are strict regulations of global e-commerce marketplaces and meaningful punishments for transgressors, none of our children will be safe. [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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