The dangers associated with asbestos exposure have been documented back to ancient times. But despite all we know about asbestos and its ability to cause dangerous diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, it is still used around the world in construction projects. This puts thousands at risk of serious illness or death. Scientists in Italy recently published a study on the effects of asbestos exposure on employees at an asbestos cement plant in the southern Italian city of Naples and the results were quite startling. The scientists focused on 1,247 more...Miles for Meso is a national series of races, fun runs and walks to support mesothelioma awareness and research. Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos. While mesothelioma treatments are improving, there is no known cure for the disease and more funding is needed to support medical research in this field. The infographic below puts asbestos exposure and mesothelioma into perspective:    Spread the word about this deadly disease by sharing this more...Despite being found guilty by an Italian court last week, Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny probably won’t serve his 16-year-long sentence for negligence associated with asbestos use in the business he used to run, the Eternit Group. Along with a Belgian businessman, Schmidheiny was given a sentence similar to those given to some convicted mass murderers in Europe. The prison term was also four years longer than the established maximums for the crime Schmidheiny committed. However, according to Forbes, legal analysts believe that appeals to the verdict and Schmidheiny’s high net worth will more...Over the course of a century, usage of the toxic substance asbestos in Europe has largely mirrored use of the material here in the United States. Many countries either have a ban or strict regulations on asbestos use, which has been the case for about 20 years. However, it was only this week that the first Europeans were convicted of crimes associated with the use of asbestos, which is known to cause deadly cancers such as mesothelioma. Previously, companies, not people, had been the only parties held accountable for asbestos-related damages. In Turin, Italy, a court has more...We all know that schools use equipment that is old, dated or even expired on occasion. This can include old textbooks, course materials or even laboratory equipment. Before we knew of the dangers associated with asbestos, many schools used the material in laboratory exercises. Although the use of asbestos in schools has dropped off, school officials in Australia recently made a grim discovery with their science equipment. In the state of Queensland, which is supposed to have the strictest anti-asbestos regulations in Australia, asbestos-containing materials was found in school science kits. Asbestos, the deadly substance known more...