How Industry Hid the Truth

French factory inspector Auribault reports 50 deaths in an asbestos weaving factory. It is one of the first documented accounts of asbestos-related occupational death.

Johns-Manville, the world's largest asbestos company, commissions the Lanza Report — internal research confirming asbestosis in workers. The company suppresses publication and alters findings before any limited release.

Germany becomes the first country in the world to recognize mesothelioma as an occupational disease caused by asbestos and compensates affected workers.

British epidemiologist Richard Doll publishes the landmark study linking asbestos exposure directly to lung cancer, with a 10× elevated risk for textile workers.

Dr. Irving Selikoff presents landmark research at a New York Academy of Sciences conference: insulation workers face catastrophically elevated cancer risk. The study cannot be ignored.

Internal Bendix Corporation memo: 'We doubt that we will be able to be competitive if we have to remove asbestos from our products.' The company continues using asbestos.

The U.S. EPA issues the Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule — intended to ban most asbestos products. The most sweeping domestic asbestos regulation in American history.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns most of the 1989 EPA ban, ruling the agency did not adequately weigh economic costs. Asbestos remains legal in the U.S. for most uses.

The World Health Organization calls for a global ban on all forms of asbestos, citing an estimated 90,000 deaths per year from occupational exposure alone.

The U.S. EPA finalizes the Chrysotile Asbestos Rule under TSCA, banning the last commercial use of asbestos in the United States — 33 years after the 1991 court setback.