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.
Neolithic pottery with asbestos
Analysed fragments of Neolithic vessels from around the fifth millennium BC show asbestos fibres mixed into the clay as a binding agent — the earliest known deliberate use of the mineral.
Geological Survey of FinlandAxe head carved from asbestos rock
A Neolithic axe head has been found shaped from rock naturally containing asbestos fibres, showing early human interaction with the mineral in its raw geological form.
Egyptian embalming cloth
Asbestos cloth was used to wrap pharaohs during mummification, protecting remains from deterioration.
Norwegian ceramics with asbestos
Ceramic fragments recovered in Norway, reconstructed from sherds dated to before 1000 BC, show asbestos fibres used as a binding agent in the clay body.
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 describes amiantus/asbestos and records that slaves who weave these cloths develop a "sickness of the lungs" — the first known written observation of asbestos toxicity. He recommends bladder-skin masks as protection.
Naturalis Historia, Book 36Cremation shrouds
Asbestos cloths were woven into funeral shrouds for cremation, so that the ashes of the deceased would not scatter. Asbestos textiles have also been found in the Vatican Necropolis.
Charlemagne impresses guests
Emperor Charlemagne reportedly used an asbestos tablecloth, throwing it into fire after feasts to "clean" it and astonish his guests — a classic anecdote of the mineral's reputation as incombustible.
Armour lining and fresco pigments
Asbestos was used to line the interiors of knight armour. In one rare documented case, a fresco in Greece was found with asbestos fibres added to the orange-red paint layer as a filler to make it more pliable.
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.
Hatschek starts asbestos production
Austrian engineer Ludwig Hatschek develops his asbestos-processing machine and launches the "First Austro-Hungarian Asbestos Products Factory", laying the groundwork for industrial-scale asbestos-cement manufacturing.
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.
British factory inspectors document harm
British factory inspectors Adelaide Anderson and Lucy Deane document the extremely dusty conditions in asbestos textile workshops and describe bronchial alterations attributed to the occupation — one of the earliest official reports linking asbestos work to respiratory disease.
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.
Hatschek invents asbestos cement
Austrian engineer Ludwig Hatschek achieves the decisive technical advance: mixing asbestos fibre (~10%) with Portland cement (~90%) to create a light, strong, fireproof building material.
Austrian patent for asbestos cement
On 15 June 1901, Ludwig Hatschek is granted Austrian patent No. 5970 for his asbestos-cement process, the technology that will underpin the global industry for a century.
The Eternit brand is born
The trademark "Eternit" is registered — from the Latin aeternus, "eternal" — and Alois Steinmann founds the Swiss Eternit company in Niederurnen, beginning the brand's global expansion.
Eternit plant opens in Casale Monferrato
Engineer Adolfo Mazza builds the Eternit factory in Casale Monferrato, Italy (production begins around 1907). It would grow to become the largest asbestos-cement plant in Europe.
First documented asbestosis deaths
A French government report records 50 deaths among textile workers in asbestos factories in Condé-sur-Noireau, Normandy.
ANDEVA (France)First court ruling recognising asbestos harm
The British Asbestos Company sues the Italian newspaper Il Progresso del Canavese (Nole Canavese) for reporting that asbestos work damaged health. The company loses in both first instance and on appeal — the first known court ruling affirming the harmfulness of asbestos work.
US insurance companies take notice
The Prudential Insurance Company and other American and Canadian insurers refuse to issue life insurance policies to asbestos workers — a clear signal that the industry's lethality was already evident to actuaries.
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 CancerThe Wizard of Oz's asbestos "snow"
The snow scene in The Wizard of Oz is filmed by scattering chrysotile asbestos dust, sold as artificial snow marketed as "cleaner and whiter". The material was still perceived as entirely benign.
Post-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 MedicineItalian production curve begins its climb
Italian asbestos production and imports begin a steep upward trajectory that will continue unbroken until the 1992 ban, peaking at roughly 250,000 tonnes per year in the 1970s.
Kent "Micronite" cigarette filters
Kent cigarettes are marketed with "Micronite" filters made from paper and crocidolite (blue asbestos), advertised with Cary Grant as a healthier option — "even scientists smoke them". The filters are later quietly replaced.
Richard Doll confirms the cancer link
British epidemiologist Sir Richard Doll publishes a landmark study of mortality among Turner & Newall workers, 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 AnnalsAsbestos as pop-culture hero
The film Hellfighters, starring John Wayne, is released in Italy as "The Asbestos Men" (Gli uomini d'amianto). In the 1960s, asbestos also appears in Marvel comics. The material was still perceived positively in popular culture.
UK 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.
IARC classifies asbestos as carcinogenic
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer arm of the WHO, publishes the monograph classifying all commercial forms of asbestos as Group 1 human carcinogens. The same year, "non-occupational exposure" — affecting family members and nearby residents — is formally defined as a risk category.
IARC MonographsSweden 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 HealthEternit plant in Casale Monferrato closes
The Eternit asbestos-cement factory in Casale Monferrato, once the largest in Europe, shuts down permanently after decades of contamination.
ILO 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 C162Casale Monferrato bans asbestos locally
On 3 December 1987, the mayor of Casale Monferrato, Riccardo Coppo, issues an ordinance prohibiting the use of asbestos in the municipality, closing the door to any reopening of the Eternit plant.
US 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 bans the extraction, import, marketing and production of asbestos and all products containing it. Italian regulations begin using the term "MCA" (materiali contenenti amianto) from this point.
Law 257/1992 (Italy)Italy extends protections to all exposed workers
Italian Law 271/1993 extends the pension and welfare benefits originally reserved for asbestos producers to all workers who were professionally exposed to asbestos, regardless of their industry.
Italian implementing regulations
Italy issues Ministerial Decree of 6 September 1994 (still in force), establishing the analytical framework for asbestos identification, and DPR of 8 August 1994, mandating a census of asbestos-containing materials in buildings. On 28 April 1994 — the legal deadline set by the 1992 law — all asbestos production in Italy ceases.
Italy maps asbestos-bearing rocks
A ministerial decree classifies the Italian rock formations that may naturally contain asbestos (the "pietre verdi" or green stones), recognising that in many regions asbestos exposure can also come from the geological substrate itself.
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 2001Italy mandates regional asbestos mapping
Ministerial Decree 101/2003 obliges all Italian regions to map the asbestos still present in their territory, creating the legal basis for systematic surveying and remediation planning.
Australia 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)Italy consolidates occupational safety law
Italy enacts Legislative Decree 81/2008, the unified text on workplace health and safety, which remains the principal reference for asbestos regulation. A 2009 amendment (Article 249) defines the concept of sporadic, low-intensity exposures.
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.
Asbestos remains the leading cause of occupational cancer death by inhalation, killing over 100,000 people each year from past exposures.
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 NewsIARC reaffirms: all asbestos is carcinogenic
The IARC reviews and updates its monograph, reaffirming that all forms of asbestos — including chrysotile — are Group 1 human carcinogens, rejecting the industry argument that chrysotile is a "safe" variety.
IARC Monograph Vol. 100CWHO: 100,000+ annual deaths
The World Health Organisation estimates that over 100,000 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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