The History of Asbestos
From fire-resistant cloth in ancient Finland to a mineral banned in over 70 countries, the story of asbestos spans six millennia. This timeline traces its discovery, industrial rise, the health crisis it caused, and the global response that continues today.
Ancient & Pre-Industrial Use
For thousands of years, asbestos was a curiosity prized for its resistance to fire. Its fibres were woven into textiles, mixed into pottery, and wrapped around the dead.
First known use
Archaeological evidence from present-day Finland shows asbestos fibres used to strengthen clay pots and cooking utensils.
Geological Survey of FinlandEgyptian embalming cloth
Asbestos cloth was used to wrap pharaohs during mummification, protecting remains from deterioration.
Theophrastus describes the mineral
The Greek naturalist Theophrastus records a mineral that looks like rotten wood but cannot be destroyed by fire, likely chrysotile asbestos.
On Stones, TheophrastusPliny the Elder notes health effects
In Naturalis Historia, Pliny records that slaves working with asbestos cloth develop a "sickness of the lungs" and recommends bladder-skin masks as protection.
Naturalis Historia, Book 36Charlemagne impresses guests
Emperor Charlemagne reportedly used an asbestos tablecloth, throwing it into fire after feasts to clean it and astonish his guests.
Marco Polo investigates
Marco Polo visits an asbestos mine in China and debunks the myth that the "fireproof" cloth comes from salamander skin, correctly identifying it as a mineral.
The Industrial Dawn
Industrialisation turned asbestos from a curiosity into a commodity. Mines opened, patents were filed, and the mineral became essential to the machinery of progress.
Commercial mining begins in Italy
Italy's Piedmont region opens the first modern asbestos mines, producing material for fireproof textiles and insulation.
H.W. Johns Company founded, USA
Henry Ward Johns establishes a company manufacturing asbestos roofing materials in New York. It would later merge to become Johns Manville.
Thetford Mines opens, Canada
Large-scale chrysotile mining begins in Quebec. Canada would become the world's largest exporter of asbestos for over a century.
Canadian EncyclopediaAustrian asbestos boom
The Austrian empire grants mining concessions in present-day Czech Republic, accelerating asbestos use in Central European construction.
First medical suspicion reported
An Austrian physician, Dr. Montague Murray, observes the early death of asbestos textile workers and documents lung fibrosis in autopsy reports.
Archaeological evidence from Finland dates asbestos use to approximately 4,000 BC.
Mass Production & Early Warnings
Asbestos production exploded in the 20th century. But even as the mineral became ubiquitous, the first clinical evidence of its lethality began to emerge.
First documented asbestosis deaths
A French government report records 50 deaths among textile workers in asbestos factories in Condé-sur-Noireau, Normandy.
ANDEVA (France)US insurance companies take notice
American and Canadian insurance companies begin refusing life insurance policies to asbestos workers due to abnormally high death rates.
Nellie Kershaw case, UK
Nellie Kershaw, a textile worker at Turner & Newall in Rochdale, dies from pulmonary asbestosis. Her death becomes the first medico-legal case linked to asbestos in the UK.
British Journal of Industrial MedicineMerewether Report, UK
Dr. Edward Merewether publishes a landmark study for the UK Home Office showing that 66% of long-term asbestos workers have asbestosis. This leads to the 1931 Asbestos Industry Regulations.
UK National ArchivesFirst asbestos regulations enacted
The United Kingdom becomes the first country to introduce asbestos-specific workplace regulations, mandating ventilation and medical examinations.
Internal industry cover-up begins
Internal documents from Johns Manville and Raybestos-Manhattan reveal that executives suppressed medical research linking asbestos to disease to protect sales.
Castleman, Asbestos: Medical and Legal AspectsGermany recognises asbestosis as occupational disease
Nazi Germany officially adds asbestosis to its list of compensable occupational diseases. German research is among the first to link asbestos to lung cancer.
Proctor, The Nazi War on CancerPost-War Peak
World War II and the post-war construction boom drove asbestos demand to unprecedented heights. The mineral was used in shipyards, power stations, schools and homes across every continent.
WWII shipyard exposure
Over 4.3 million US shipyard workers are exposed to asbestos during wartime ship construction. Similar exposure occurs in UK, Australian and Canadian shipyards.
Mount Sinai School of MedicineRichard Doll confirms the cancer link
British epidemiologist Sir Richard Doll publishes a study demonstrating that asbestos textile workers are ten times more likely to die of lung cancer than the general population.
British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1955Wagner identifies mesothelioma
South African pathologist J.C. Wagner publishes a groundbreaking study linking crocidolite (blue asbestos) mining in the Cape Province to mesothelioma, a cancer of the pleura previously thought to be extremely rare.
Wagner et al., British Journal of Industrial MedicineGlobal production peaks at 2 million tonnes
Worldwide asbestos extraction reaches approximately 2 million tonnes per year. The Soviet Union, Canada, South Africa and Italy are the largest producers.
Selikoff conference, New York
Dr. Irving Selikoff organises a landmark conference on the biological effects of asbestos at the New York Academy of Sciences, presenting irrefutable evidence of asbestos-related cancers to over 400 scientists.
NY Academy of Sciences AnnalsUK bans crocidolite import
The UK becomes one of the first countries to ban the import and use of blue asbestos (crocidolite), the most lethal variety.
As of 2026, over 70 countries have enacted comprehensive asbestos bans — but it remains legal in many large markets.
Awakening & Activism
Growing scientific evidence and public pressure forced governments to act. Asbestos went from miracle mineral to industrial villain.
EPA established, USA
The US Environmental Protection Agency is created and immediately classifies asbestos as a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
EPA bans sprayed asbestos insulation
The US bans spray-applied asbestos insulation, one of the most dangerous applications due to its friability.
Sweden enacts first national ban
Sweden becomes the first country in the world to ban most uses of asbestos, setting a precedent that dozens of countries would follow.
Iceland and Norway ban asbestos
Iceland and Norway implement comprehensive asbestos bans, joining Sweden as Nordic pioneers in asbestos prohibition.
Italy: the Eternit scandal emerges
Investigations into the Eternit factory in Casale Monferrato, Italy, reveal catastrophic contamination. Over 3,000 mesothelioma deaths would eventually be traced to the plant.
Ferrante et al., Environmental HealthILO Asbestos Convention (No. 162)
The International Labour Organisation adopts Convention 162 on safety in the use of asbestos, establishing minimum protections for workers worldwide.
ILO Convention C162US EPA attempts a total ban
The EPA issues a final rule banning most asbestos-containing products under TSCA. The rule is largely overturned by a court of appeals in 1991, leaving the US without a comprehensive ban.
Corrosion Proof Fittings v. EPA, 947 F.2d 1201The Global Ban Movement
The 1990s and 2000s saw a wave of national bans sweep across Europe, then ripple outwards. The EU made its position definitive, while major producers began to reckon with the consequences.
Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland ban asbestos
Three European nations implement comprehensive asbestos bans, joining the Nordic countries in eliminating the mineral from commerce.
Germany and Italy ban asbestos
Two of Europe's largest economies prohibit all forms of asbestos. Italy's Law 257/1992 mandates the closure of the Eternit factories.
Law 257/1992 (Italy)France bans asbestos
France implements a total ban via Decree 96-1133 (effective 1 January 1997), following a major public health scandal linked to the Jussieu university campus contamination.
Decree 96-1133 (France)EU Directive 1999/77/EC
The European Union adopts a directive banning all forms of asbestos across all member states, with a compliance deadline of 1 January 2005.
EU Directive 1999/77/ECWTO upholds French ban
The World Trade Organisation rules that France's asbestos ban does not violate free trade agreements, in a case brought by Canada. A landmark ruling for public health law.
WTO DS135Spain bans asbestos
Spain's Ministerial Order of 7 December 2001 (effective 15 June 2002) prohibits the marketing and use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile. Spain becomes one of the last EU-15 countries to implement a full ban.
BOE — Orden de 7 de diciembre de 2001Australia bans asbestos
Australia implements a total ban on the manufacture, use, reuse, import, transport, storage and sale of all forms of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials.
Safe Work AustraliaEU ban takes full effect
The EU-wide ban on asbestos extraction, manufacturing and processing takes effect. All 25 member states must now comply.
Japan bans asbestos
Japan bans asbestos following the Kubota Shock — the revelation that over 100 workers and residents near a Kubota Corporation factory died of mesothelioma.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)South Korea bans asbestos
South Korea implements a full ban, one of the first Asian nations to do so after Japan, following a surge in mesothelioma cases among former industrial workers.
The WHO estimates 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.
Modern Legacy & Ongoing Battles
Even as bans spread, the legacy of decades of asbestos use continued to kill. Courts delivered historic verdicts, and the global push for a worldwide ban gained momentum.
Russia produces 1 million tonnes
Russia remains the world's largest asbestos producer, extracting over 1 million tonnes annually — primarily from the town of Asbest in the Urals, named after the mineral.
USGS Minerals YearbookEternit trial verdict, Italy
An Italian court convicts Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny, former Eternit owner, sentencing him to 16 years for the environmental disaster at Casale Monferrato. The verdict is later overturned on statute-of-limitations grounds.
Ferrante et al., Environmental HealthCanada stops mining asbestos
Quebec's last two asbestos mines (Jeffrey and LAB Chrysotile) close permanently. Canada had been one of the world's largest exporters for 130 years.
CBC NewsWHO: 107,000 annual deaths
The World Health Organisation estimates that 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases — lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. All forms of asbestos are classified as Group 1 carcinogens by IARC.
WHO Fact SheetColombia bans asbestos
Colombia becomes one of the first Latin American countries to approve a full ban, effective from 2021, after a years-long campaign by health advocates and senator Nadia Blel.
Canada bans asbestos
Canada implements a near-total ban on asbestos and products containing asbestos, ending its role as one of the mineral's historical defenders.
Government of CanadaEternit-bis trial, Italy
A new trial begins in Turin against Stephan Schmidheiny for the deaths of over 392 people in Casale Monferrato and other communities contaminated by Eternit factories.
The 2020s: Unfinished Business
The battle against asbestos is far from over. Two million tonnes are still mined annually. Millions of buildings worldwide still contain asbestos. And mesothelioma deaths continue to rise in many countries.
EU renovation wave strategy
The European Commission launches the Renovation Wave Strategy, explicitly recognising asbestos in buildings as a barrier to safe energy retrofitting and calling for mandatory asbestos surveys before renovation.
European CommissionUkraine conflict raises asbestos concerns
The destruction of buildings in Ukraine releases asbestos from Soviet-era construction materials. Humanitarian organisations warn of long-term health consequences for civilians and responders.
EU lowers exposure limit to 0.002 f/cm³
The European Parliament votes to reduce the occupational exposure limit for asbestos from 0.1 to 0.002 fibres per cm³ — a 50-fold reduction — and mandates pre-renovation surveys in all EU buildings.
European ParliamentUS EPA bans chrysotile asbestos
The US EPA finalises a rule banning chrysotile asbestos under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), ending the last legal use of asbestos in the United States after decades of regulatory effort.
US EPA Final RuleSchmidheiny sentenced to 12 years
An Italian court sentences former Eternit owner Stephan Schmidheiny to 12 years in prison for the environmental disaster in Casale Monferrato. The case represents one of the largest corporate manslaughter prosecutions in history.
ReutersGlobal mesothelioma deaths still rising
Mesothelioma incidence continues to rise in many countries due to the 20–50-year latency period. An estimated 40,000 people die of mesothelioma annually worldwide. Countries that banned asbestos later (France, Australia, Japan) are yet to reach their peak.
The LancetOver 70 countries have banned asbestos
More than 70 nations have now fully banned asbestos. However, it remains legal in significant markets including Russia, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and several Central Asian countries. An estimated 2 million tonnes are still mined globally each year.
IBAS Ban ListApproximately 2 million tonnes of asbestos are still extracted annually, primarily in Russia, Kazakhstan and China.
Sources & Further Reading
This timeline draws on peer-reviewed medical literature, government archives, WHO and ILO publications, and investigative journalism. Key references are listed below.
- WHO — Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases
- IARC Monograph on Asbestos (Vol. 100C)
- ILO Convention C162 — Safety in the Use of Asbestos
- IBAS — International Ban Asbestos Secretariat
- EU Directive 1999/77/EC
- USGS Asbestos Statistics and Information
- Castleman, B. — Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects (5th ed.)
- Proctor, R.N. — The Nazi War on Cancer
- European Parliament — New Asbestos at Work Directive (2023)
- US EPA — Chrysotile Asbestos Ban (2024)
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