ABSTRACT
Asbestos use expanded in many countries beginning in the 1940s and peaked in many developed countries in Western Europe, North America and Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, after which it dropped dramatically. Industrializing countries began large-scale use of asbestos in the 1960s, and many of these countries still use asbestos. At present, 55 countries have banned the import and use of asbestos, and many others have applied strict regulations on its use and handling (World Health Organization, 2014a,b). However, it is still manufactured and otherwise used in several dozen countries worldwide. Furthermore, in countries that have banned or restricted the use of the bre, exposures still occur in industrial maintenance, asbestos abatement, construction repair, renovation and demolition, rescue and re-ghting and as a consequence of natural disasters, due to a large amount of asbestos being in place (Collegium Ramazzini, 2011; World Health Organization, 2014b).
