Asbestos Ban in Italy: A Major Milestone, Not the Final Cut

Daniela Marsili, Alessia Angelini, Caterina Bruno, Marisa Corfiati, Alessandro Marinaccio, Stefano Silvestri, Amerigo Zona and Pietro Comba
Additional contact information
Daniela Marsili: Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Alessia Angelini: Institute for Study and Prevention of Cancer, 50139 Florence, Italy
Caterina Bruno: Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Marisa Corfiati: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, Italian Workers Compensation Authority (INAIL), 00143 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Marinaccio: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, Italian Workers Compensation Authority (INAIL), 00143 Rome, Italy
Stefano Silvestri: Institute for Study and Prevention of Cancer, 50139 Florence, Italy
Amerigo Zona: Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Pietro Comba: Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Background and history: Italy was the main asbestos producer and one of the greatest consumers in 20th century Europe until the asbestos ban was introduced in 1992. Asbestos exposure affected the population in a wide range of working environments, namely mining and marketing of asbestos, asbestos cement production, shipyards and textile industries. This also determined a widespread environmental asbestos exposure affecting the surrounding communities. Methods: To investigate the drivers and difficulties of the process leading to the asbestos ban and its subsequent implementation, we focused on stakeholder involvement, environmental health policies, capacity building and communication. Results: In the past three decades, stakeholder involvement has been instrumental in advancing the industrial asbestos replacement process, prevention and remediation interventions. Furthermore, involvement also contributed to the integration of environmental and health policies at national, regional and local levels, including capacity building and communication. In a global public health perspective, international scientific cooperation has been established with countries using and producing asbestos. Discussion and Conclusions: Key factors and lessons learnt in Italy from both successful and ineffective asbestos policies are described to support the relevant stakeholders in countries still using asbestos contributing to the termination of its use.

Keywords: asbestos; Italy; mesothelioma; asbestos-related disease; environmental cleanup; health surveillance; epidemiological monitoring; international scientific cooperation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/11/1379/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/11/1379/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:11:p:1379-:d:118689

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().