Asbestos Facts

• Asbestos has been banned in more than 60 countries, but not in the U.S.
• Asbestos exposure is the No. 1 cause of work-related deaths in the world.
• Approximately 90,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases globally each year.
• An estimated 125 million people worldwide remain at risk of occupational exposure to asbestos.
• About 1.3 million U.S. workers in construction and general industry are at risk of exposure today.

Stats

• While there has been a fall in asbestos production throughout the world, certain countries — including the U.S. — have significantly increased importation of asbestos. Asbestos lobbying organizations play a major role in keeping asbestos trade alive.
• Global asbestos production fell from 2.1 million tons in 2012 to 1.4 million tons in 2015.
• In 2018, the U.S. chemical industry quadrupled its importation of asbestos compared to the year before.
• A 2018 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reported that for every 20 tons of asbestos produced and consumed a person dies of an asbestos-related disease somewhere in the world.
• More than 2 million tons of asbestos is currently consumed each year throughout the world.
• Nearly 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the United States. That represents 0.02 percent of all U.S. cancer cases. A 2017 report from the CDC shows the death rate in the United States from 1999 to 2015 was around 8 deaths per million people.
• The mesothelioma death rate is much higher among men. From 1999 to 2010, the age-adjusted death rate for men was 24.6 deaths per million, compared with 4.5 deaths per million for women.
• The rate for whites is more than double that of any other race. From 1999 to 2010, the age-adjusted death rate among whites was 13.9 deaths per million. The second highest rate was observed in American Indians or Alaska Natives (5.6 deaths per million), followed by Blacks or African Americans (5.4 deaths per million) and Asians or Pacific Islanders (3.3 deaths per million).