Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occur naturally.  There are six different classifications of the fibers that are inhaled.  The six different minerals that are defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as asbestos are chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophylite, and actinolite, all of which are known to be human carcinogens.

Australia has the highest per capita rate of malignant pleural mesothelioma in the world.  The number of cases is expected to peak in 2020.  Twenty-eight percent of cases have no history of asbestos exposure.  The rate is higher in men than in women.

Libby, Montana, is the site of the worst case of community-wide exposure to a toxic substance in U.S. history.  The Environmental Protection Agency has spent 120 million in Superfund money on cleanup. The vermiculite deposit in the mine was contaminated with asbestos; both vermiculite and asbestos are naturally occurring minerals.

In the United Kingdom, incidence has risen by ninety per cent since 1992, to about eighteen hundred deaths annually.  It is estimated that there is one death every five hours.  Projected to peak at twenty-five hundred deaths annually during 2011- 2015.

Asbestos is still being mined worldwide, with the area known as Russia 40%, China 20%, Kazakhstan 13%,  Canada 10%, and Brazil 10%.

According to David Rosenberg from the Harvard Law School, in an abstract from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group conference in September 2012, ” Exposure of millions of workers to asbestos has resulted in the longest running and most expensive tort litigation in U.S. history.  Well over 70 billion has been spent since the 1970’s on overhead- lawyers, experts, insurance, court administration, and other litigious matters, while 30 billion in net compensation has been received by the plaintiffs.  For every 1.40 being spent, 1.00 in compensation is going to the plaintiffs.

In North America, 28 million people have had significant exposure to asbestos either through their occupations or environmentally

The latency period is as long as 50 years; each is at risk for mesothelioma-related diseases.