For decades, the hazardous substance isolated the steel frameworks of high-rise buildings and was found in car tires, floors and hairdryers. Although industrialized nations have been aware of the asbestos risk for a long time, the dangers have not yet been eliminated. Doctors are warning of a rise in cases of secondary illnesses associated with asbestos exposure. In the EU, a ban on the manufacture, sale and use of asbestos was introduced in 2005. Germany implemented the measure even earlier, in November 1993.
In Europe, asbestos abatement represents a huge challenge: experts say it will take 100 years and cost several billion Euros to get rid of the carcinogenic fibers once and for all. All the while, year after year Russia continues to extract 600,000 tons of the mineral in the world’s largest asbestos mine – for export.
In the shipyards of Bangladesh, laborers get sick breaking up European freighters and supertankers containing thousands of tons of asbestos; and there’s growing anger in South America towards European companies that continued to use asbestos long after the material was banned in Europe. Global research casts doubt on common perceptions about asbestos and shows that no one is completely safe from possible exposure, particularly as large-scale industry and multinationals appear to be intent upon doing business with asbestos for some time to come.
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