Global Asbestos Awareness Week Puts a Worldwide Crisis in Focus
Asbestos Exposure & Bans
Written by Travis Rodgers | Edited by Amy Edel
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization marks April 1 to 7 as Global Asbestos Awareness Week, a 22-year-old international campaign to prevent asbestos exposure and push for stronger protections worldwide. This year’s theme is: Asbestos: One Word. One Week. One World. This reflects both the reach of the crisis and the urgency of ending it.
On March 27, 2026, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution to designate April 1 to 7 as National Asbestos Awareness Week. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT) championed the bipartisan resolution that calls on the U.S. Surgeon General to issue a renewed asbestos warning.
Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) co-sponsored the resolution that underscores asbestos remains a serious public health threat. Their support signals concern over asbestos exposure crosses party lines and reflects a growing recognition that the U.S. has more to do to protect workers, families and communities from this known carcinogen.
“Global Asbestos Awareness Week reminds us that the asbestos crisis is not over in the United States. Asbestos is a known human carcinogen with no safe level of exposure and prevention remains the most effective way to save lives,” Linda Reinstein, president and CEO of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, tells us.
“One life lost from an asbestos-caused disease is tragic. Over a million is unconscionable. ADAO thanks bipartisan Senate champions, including Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Steve Daines, for their leadership in advancing public health protections,” Reinstein adds.
Asbestos Still Claims Tens of Thousands of Lives
The World Health Organization estimates that globally asbestos causes more than 200,000 deaths every year. It’s responsible for more than 70% of all deaths from work-related cancers. In the U.S. alone, approximately 40,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases each year.
Asbestos is the primary cause of mesothelioma. This rare and aggressive cancer can take 20 to 60 years to develop after exposure, which means many people diagnosed today had their first contact with asbestos decades ago, often without knowing it.
Legacy asbestos in older buildings continues to put workers at risk today. WHO notes that anyone working on buildings where asbestos is still present faces potential exposure. That means the risk persists, even many years after asbestos products were installed and in countries that have already enacted bans.
Secondary asbestos exposure also puts families at serious risk. Asbestos fibers from worksites cling to the clothing and hair of workers, which can then expose family members in their home when hugging their loved one or laundering work clothes. These fibers can also be transferred to upholstery and carpeting in the home. The Journal of Lung Health and Diseases estimates secondhand asbestos exposure accounts for around 30% of U.S. mesothelioma cases.
The Global Asbestos Ban Remains Incomplete
In the U.S., the situation remains complicated. The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule in 2024 restricting chrysotile asbestos, the last form still commercially used in the country. But that rule doesn’t address legacy asbestos, the material already present in older buildings and products. ADAO calls legacy asbestos an urgent and unresolved public health threat.
Industry groups are challenging the EPA’s chrysotile rule before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments scheduled for early June 2026. A successful challenge could weaken years of regulatory progress.
“During Global Asbestos Awareness Week, we call on the United States to match the science with action. Americans remain at risk from ongoing asbestos exposure. Bipartisan Senate leadership continues to play a critical role in advancing prevention, education and policy solutions to end this public health crisis,” Reinstein says.
Nearly 70 countries have banned asbestos, but major producers and consumers including China, India and Russia haven’t. India banned asbestos mining in 2011 but continues to import and process chrysotile asbestos in large quantities, according to a peer-reviewed analysis in Public Health Action. Chrysotile is widely used in asbestos-cement roofing.
Countries with strong health infrastructure are more likely to recognize the problem, enact bans and track disease. Those without it often can’t, meaning the true global death toll likely exceeds reported figures.
What Global Asbestos Awareness Week Does and Why It Matters
Global Asbestos Awareness Week brings together scientists, policymakers, public health professionals and people facing asbestos-related diseases. ADAO’s 2026 program includes multilingual educational materials, survivor stories, daily thematic events and expanded digital tools. The week wraps up with a Virtual Candlelight Vigil honoring those who have lost their lives to asbestos-related diseases.
International organizations have joined the effort. The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health serves as a Day Six Partner for Prevention this year, citing asbestos as one of the most persistent occupational health hazards in the world. IOSH’s involvement shows how this awareness initiative has grown from a U.S.-focused campaign into a global movement.
ADAO’s 2026 legal advocacy targets several fronts at once. The organization works to defend the EPA’s chrysotile asbestos rule, enforce deadlines under the Toxic Substances Control Act and advance the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act through Congress. Each of those efforts connects directly to the awareness week’s core message: awareness must lead to prevention and prevention requires enforceable policy.
Prevention remains the only known way to stop asbestos-related diseases. No cure exists for mesothelioma or asbestosis and research into treatment continues. That makes the focus on education and policy not just timely, it’s essential.
