[Asbestos risk: past and present exposure]. / Rischio amianto: esposizioni pregresse ed esposizioni attuali.

ABSTRACT

Occupational asbestos exposure affected a large number of workers during the last century. In particular, during the period following the second world war until the end of the eighties heavy exposures occurred in several industrial divisions. An approximate data can be represented by the number of requests for compensation according to the n. 257/1992 ban asbestos law. The National and Regional Mesothelioma Registries collect all the cases of this asbestos related disease. Analysing these data, the industrial divisions at risk, considering both intensity and quality of exposure, emerge with increasing accuracy. The use of asbestos in new products has been banned in Italy since 1992. The legislation issued during the nineties includes technical guidelines for exposure risk control during operations on asbestos containing products, mainly consisting in maintenance or asbestos removal. Consequently, the exposures decreased, both in terms of intensity and in terms of number of exposed workers but exposures will reach a complete end only when asbestos is completely cleared out. In this paper, data about industrial divisions at major risk, derived from the tuscanian cases, as well as the list of the jobs of the present asbestos exposed workers are illustrated.