The mineral asbestos is subject to a wide range of laws and regulations that relate to its production and use, including mining, manufacturing, use and disposal. Injuries attributed to asbestos have resulted in both workers' compensation claims and injury litigation. Health problems attributed to asbestos include asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer, and diffuse pleural thickening.
One of the major issues relating to asbestos in civil proceedings is the latency of asbestos-related diseases. A National Institutes of Health of 421 people reported a latency period of 14 to 72 years from exposure to asbestos to mesothelioma diagnosis. Most countries have limitation periods to bar actions that are taken long after the cause of action has lapsed. For example, in Malaysia the time period to file a tort action is six years from the time the tort occurred. Due to several asbestos-related actions, countries such as Australia have amended their laws relating to limitations to accumulate starting from time of discovery rather than time when the cause of action accrued. The first employee claims for injury from exposure to asbestos in the workplace were made in 1927, and the first lawsuit against an asbestos manufacturer was filed in 1929. Since then, many lawsuits have been filed. As a result of the litigation, manufacturers sold off subsidiaries, diversified, produced asbestos substitutes, and started asbestos removal businesses.
Worldwide, 67 countries and territories (including those in the European Union) have banned the use of asbestos. It is listed as a category of controlled waste under Annex I of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal . This means that parties to the convention are required to prohibit the export of hazardous wastes to parties which have prohibited the import of such wastes via the notification procedure in Article 13 of the convention. In places such as India, however, there continues to be a high use of friable or dust-based asbestos in compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) gaskets, ropes, cloth, gland packings, millboards, insulation, brake liners, and other products which are being exported without adequate knowledge and information to the other countries. Asbestos use is prevalent in India because there is no effective enforcement of the rules.
Background In the late 19th century and early 20th century, asbestos was considered an ideal material for use in the construction industry. It was known to be an excellent fire retardant, to have high electrical resistance, and was inexpensive and easy to use.
The dangers related to asbestos arise mainly when the fibers become airborne and are inhaled. Because of the size of the fibers, the lungs cannot expel them.Casarrett & Doull's Toxicology (2001), pp 520-522 These fibers are also sharp and penetrate internal tissues.
Health problems attributed to asbestos include:epa.gov . EPA publication on Asbestos. Retrieved 15 April 2006.
Asbestosis - A lung disease first found in textile workers,Murray, H.M., Departmental Committee for Compensation for Industrial Diseases. Cd 3495 and 3496. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1907, p.127Cooke, W.E., "Fibrosis of the lungs due to the inhalation of asbestos dust." B.M.J., 2, 147, 1924.Selikoff, I.J. et al., The occurrence of asbestosis among insulation workers in the United States. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences., 132, pp139-155, 1966 asbestosis is a scarring of the lung tissue resulting from the production of growth factors that stimulate fibroblasts (the scar-producing lung cells) to proliferate and synthesize the scar tissue in response to injury by the inhaled fibers. The scarring may eventually become so severe that the lungs can no longer function. The latency period (meaning the time it takes for the disease to develop) is often 10–20 years. Mesothelioma - A cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, the peritoneum (abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac surrounding the heart). Unlike lung cancer, mesothelioma has no association with smoking. The only established causal factor is exposure to asbestos or similar fibers.Maule, Magnani, Dalmasso, Mirabelli, Merletti & Biggeri, "Modeling Mesothelioma Risk Associated with Environmental Asbestos Exposure", Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol 115, No 7, July 2207, pg 1066 The latency period for mesothelioma may be 20–50 years. The prognosis for mesothelioma is grim, with most patients dying within 12 months of diagnosis. Cancer - Cancer of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, kidney and larynx have been linked to asbestos. The latency period for cancer is often 15–30 years. Diffuse pleural thickening
Considerable international controversy exists regarding the perceived rights and wrongs associated with litigation on compensation claims related to asbestos exposure and alleged subsequent medical consequences. Some measure of the vast range of views expressed in legal and political circles can perhaps be exemplified by the two quotes below, the first from Prof. Lester Brickman, an American legal ethicist writing in the Pepperdine Law Review, and second, Michael Wills, a British Member of Parliament, speaking in the House of Commons on July 13. 2006:
"A review of the scholarly literature indicates a substantial degree of indifference to the causes of this civil justice system failure. Many of the published articles on asbestos litigation focus on transactional costs and ways in which the flow of money from defendants to plaintiffs and their lawyers can be expeditiously and efficiently prioritized and routed. The failure to acknowledge, let alone analyze, the overriding reality of specious claiming and meritless claims demonstrates a disconnect between the scholarship and the reality of the litigation that is nearly as wide as the disconnect between rates of disease claiming and actual disease manifestation".
"Many of those who I see in my surgeries have worked in a number of workplaces and they could have been exposed to asbestos in each of them, but medical science is such that no one can identify which of them it is. As a result, there has been a long and complex history of legal discussion on how to apportion liability. The lawyers and the judiciary have wrestled, rightly and valiantly, with complex and difficult law, but it has created despair for the families whom we represent. Many of my constituents' families have been riven by the consequences of litigation in trying to get some compensation for a disease that has been contracted through no fault of theirs. That is cruel and unacceptable."
Regulation Complete bans on asbestos Worldwide, 68 countries and territories (including those in the European Union) have banned the use of asbestos. Exemptions for minor uses are permitted in some countries listed; however, all countries listed must have banned the use of all types of asbestos.
Country Ban Date 2009 2003 December 31, 2003 2004 1996 1998 November 29, 2017 1996 2005 December 31, 2018 2001 January 1, 2021 2006 2005 1999 1986 1999 2005 2005 January 1, 1994 1997 2012 1993 2007 2005 April 4, 2014 2005 1983 2016 2000 2011 1992 March 2012 2006 January 2009 2001 2005 1990 2005 2001 2005 2024 2005 2010 1994 2007 2015 2014 1985 2017 1997 2005 2010 2007 1998 2015 2006 2001 2005 2008 2002 1982 1990 2018 2010 September 6, 2022 2000 2004
International law Asbestos is listed as a category of controlled waste under Annex I of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal . Specifically, any waste streams having asbestos (dust and fibers) as constituents are controlled (Item Y36). In general terms, Parties to the convention are required to prohibit and not permit the export of hazardous wastes to the Parties which have prohibited the import of such wastes via the notification procedure in Article 13 of the convention.
Australia A nationwide ban on importing and using all forms asbestos took effect on 31 December 2003. Reflecting the ban, the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) revised asbestos-related material to promote a consistent approach to controlling exposure to workplace asbestos and to introduce best-practice health and safety measures for asbestos management, control and removal. The ban does not cover asbestos materials or products already in use at the time the ban was implemented.
Although Australia has only a third of the UK's population, its asbestos disease fatalities approximate Britain's of more than 3,000 people per year.
Western Australia' center of blue asbestos mining was Wittenoom. The mine was run by CSR Limited (a company that had been the Colonial Sugar Refinery). The main manufacturer of asbestos products was James Hardie, which set up a minor fund for its workers, then transferred operations to the Netherlands where it would be out of reach of the workers when the fund expired.
Brazil The São Paulo State law 12.684/07 prohibits the use of any product which utilizes asbestos. This legislation has been formally upheld by the Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal.
Canada Since the 1980s, Canada has not permitted crocidolite asbestos to be used and has had limitations on certain uses of other types of asbestos, notably in some construction materials and textiles.
In late 2011, Canada's remaining two asbestos mines, both located in the Province of Quebec, halted operations. The following year, Quebec's government announced a halt to asbestos miningQuebec Budget: Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau tightens spending, levies new taxes and the federal government announced that it would end its opposition to adding chrysotile asbestos to the list of hazardous substances under the international Rotterdam Convention.
In 2018, the Canadian federal government posted proposed regulations planned for implementation later that year, which would prohibit use, sale, import, and export of all forms of asbestos. Since 30 December 2018, the import, sale, and use of raw asbestos have been formally prohibited, and products containing asbestos are also banned except for certain specialized uses, such as in nuclear facilities.
France France banned the use of asbestos in 1997, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) upheld France's right to the ban in 2000. In addition, France has called for a worldwide ban.
Hong Kong The import, shipment, supply of, and use of all forms of asbestos is banned in Hong Kong under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311).
Before the 1980s, use of the material was common in construction, manufacturing, and shipping. The government banned the use of most asbestos products in public areas in 1978. The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Asbestos) Special Regulation (Cap. 59X), which came into force in 1986, and the subsequent Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Asbestos) Regulation (Cap. 59AD) implemented controls on the use of asbestos in the workplace and banned the use of amphibole asbestos completely.
The import of amosite or crocidolite to Hong Kong was banned in 1996 by the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311). On 4 April 2014, the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 came into force, completely banning the import, transshipment, supply and installation of all forms of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials in Hong Kong by amending the existing Air Pollution Control Ordinance. Buildings built before the mid-1980s may continue the use of asbestos-containing materials.
India
The Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health of the Government of India states "Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out."