International Impact Blogs

Ashirwad Barnwal is a student at Iowa State University of Science and Technology. He is the first-place winner of the Spring 2016 Asbestos.com Essay Scholarship. Ashirwad describes how his experience as a civil engineer in India opened his eyes to the dangers of asbestos, development of mesothelioma and the corporate greed of asbestos manufacturers. In…

Of all the words in the English language, “asbestos” is the only one that angers me or moves me to tears. It wasn’t always this way. I grew up in an era where asbestos was commonplace. The building industry used it extensively because of its affordability and durability. An estimated 98 percent of all homes…

Francis Agnus Vito left Sicily for the U.S. when she was 25 years old. When she was 30, she gave birth to my grandmother, Janette Vito. Italian mothers and great-grandmothers are strong women, but they are not invincible. My grandmother still speaks of the sound she heard when my great-grandmother collapsed and hit the floor….

Lyubomir R. knows the history of malignant pleural mesothelioma, and he isn’t asking for a miracle — just a fighting chance for his mother in Serbia to survive. Cannabis oil will give her that opportunity, he hopes, but only if the path for obtaining and delivering it safely is cleared. As it is now, there are…

Serious symptoms of mesothelioma can take a long time to develop – as long as 50 years in some instances – and that can be problematic for those seeking compensation from companies that exposed them to the highly toxic asbestos fibers. In many cases, these companies stopped trading long ago, making it sometimes impossible to trace…

Asbestos is a deadly, odorless substance with virtually invisible fibers, and almost every house constructed before the 1980s contains the toxic mineral in its makeup. Its hazardous nature makes it extremely important to warn workers when areas and supplies are contaminated by asbestos. Institutions around the world must often ask themselves: What image or wording…

It seems that no matter which way we turn these days, asbestos is rearing its ugly head. And sadly, this worrisome problem is not going to go away any time soon.

Due to its…

Moviegoers to the Piccadilly Cinema in Perth, Western Australia, hoping for a spot of light entertainment could find themselves involved in a real-life drama soon following the recent disclosure that…

Asbestos has been in Australia’s history for a long time. From the 1950s through the 1980s, Australia had the highest per capita use of asbestos in the world.

Tragically, this has led to Australia…

Canada’s asbestos industry just got a $58 million stimulus from the government right before it was about to collapse. The funds will be used to renovate and reopen the Jeffrey Mine in the town called Asbestos. It’s unfortunate that the town is named after a mineral responsible for causing mesothelioma cancer. The town’s image has…