asbestos had "easily demonstrated" health risks. at about the same time, what was probably the first study of mortality among asbestos workers was reported in france. while the study describes the cause of death as chalicosis, a generalized pneumoconiosis, the circumstances of the employment of the fifty workers whose death prompted the study suggest that the root cause was asbestos or mixed asbestos-cotton dust exposure. 1900s–1910s micrograph demonstrating asbestosis of the lung (ferruginous bodies). h&e stain. awareness of asbestos-related diseases can be found in the early 1900s, when london doctor h. montague murray conducted a post mortem exam on a young asbestos factory worker who died in 1899. dr. murray gave testimony on this death in connection with an industrial disease compensation hearing. the post-mortem confirmed the presence of asbestos in the lung tissue, prompting dr. murray to express as an expert opinion his belief that the inhalation of asbestos dust had at least contributed to, if not actually caused, the death of the worker. the record in the united states was similar. early observations were largely anecdotal in nature and did not definitively link the occupation with the disease, followed by more compelling and larger studies that strengthened the association. one such study, published in 1918, noted: all of these processes unquestionably involve a considerable dust hazard, but the hygienic aspects of the industry have not been reported upon. it may be said, in conclusion, that in the practice of american and canadian life insurance companies, asbestos workers are generally declined on account of the assumed health-injurious conditions of the industry. 1920s–1930s widespread recognition of the occupational risks of asbestos in britain was reported in 1924 by a dr. cooke, a pathologist, who introduced a case description of a 33-year-old female asbestos worker, nellie kershaw, with the following: "medical men in areas where asbestos is manufactured have long suspected the dust to be the cause of chronic bronchitis and fibrosis ..." dr. cooke then went on to report on a case in 1927 involving a 33-year-old male worker who was the only survivor out of ten workers in an asbestos carding room. in the report he named the disease "asbestosis". dr. cooke's second case report was followed, in the late 1920s, by a large public health investigation (now known as the merewether report after one of its two authors) that examined some 360 asbestos-textile workers (reported to be about 15% of the total comparable employment in britain at the time) and found that about a quarter of them had pulmonary fibrosis. this investigation resulted in improved regulation of the manufacturing of asbestos-containing products in the early 1930s. regulations included industrial hygiene standards, medical examinations, and inclusion of the asbestos industry into the british workers' compensation act. the first known u.s. workers' compensation claim for asbestos disease was in 1927. in 1930, the first reported autopsy of a person with asbestosis was conducted in the united states and later presented by a doctor at the mayo clinic, although in this case the exposure involved mining activities somewhere in south america. in 1930, the major asbestos company johns-manville produced a report, for internal company use only, about medical reports of asbestos worker fatalities. in 1932, a letter from u.s. bureau of mines to asbestos manufacturer eagle-picher stated, in relevant part, "it is now known that asbestos dust is one of the most dangerous dusts to which man is exposed." in 1933, metropolitan life insurance co. doctors found that 29% of workers in a johns-manville plant had asbestosis. likewise, in 1933, johns-manville officials settled lawsuits by 11 employees with asbestosis on the condition that the employees' lawyer agree to never again "directly or indirectly participate in the bringing of new actions against the corporation." in 1934, officials of two large asbestos companies, johns-manville and raybestos-manhattan, edited an article about the diseases of asbestos workers written by a metropolitan life insurance company doctor. the changes downplayed the danger of asbestos dust. in 1935, officials of johns-manville and raybestos-manhattan instructed the editor of asbestos magazine to publish nothing about asbestosis. in 1936, a group of asbestos companies agreed to sponsor research on the health effects of asbestos dust, but required that the companies maintain complete control over the disclosure of the results. 1940s in 1942, an internal owens-corning corporate memo referred to "medical literature on asbestosis ... scores of publications in which the lung and skin hazards of asbestos are discussed." testimony given in a federal court in 1984 by charles h. roemer, formerly an employee of unarco, described a meeting in the early 1940s between unarco officials, j-m president lewis h. brown and j-m attorney vandiver brown. roemer stated, "i'll never forget, i turned to mr. brown, one of the browns made this crack (that unarco managers were a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis), and i said, 'mr. brown, do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?' he said, 'yes. we save a lot of money that way.'" in 1944, a metropolitan life insurance company report found 42 cases of asbestosis among 195 asbestos miners. 1950s in 1951, asbestos companies removed all references to cancer before allowing publication of research they sponsored. in 1952, dr. kenneth smith, johns-manville medical director, recommended (unsuccessfully) that warning labels be attached to products containing asbestos. later, smith testified: "it was a business decision as far as i could understand ... the corporation is in business to provide jobs for people and make money for stockholders and they had to take into consideration the effects of everything they did and if the application of a caution label identifying a product as hazardous would cut into sales, there would be serious financial implications." in 1953, national gypsum's safety director wrote to the indiana division of industrial hygiene, recommending that acoustic plaster mixers wear respirators "because of the asbestos used in the product." another company official noted that the letter was "full of dynamite" and urged that it be retrieved before reaching its destination. a memo in the files noted that the company "succeeded in stopping" the letter, which "will be modified." 1960s–1980s through the 1970s, asbestos was used to fireproof roofing and flooring, for heat insulation, and for a variety of other purposes. the material was used in fire-check partitioning and doors on north sea oil production platforms and rigs. during the mid-to late 1980s, public health concern focused on potential asbestos fiber exposures of building occupants and workers in buildings containing asbestos containing building materials (acbm) and their risks of developing lung cancer or mesothelioma. as a consequence, the health effects institute (cambridge, ma) convened a panel to evaluate the lifetime cancer risk of general building occupants as well as service workers. united states researcher using a fiber length classifier to produce length-selected fibers of asbestos for toxological studies. the united states remains one of the few developed countries to not completely ban asbestos. while it is banned its use for certain items, it is legal for use in products such as clothing, pipeline wraps, vinyl floor tiles, millboards, cement pipes, disk brake pads, gaskets and roof coatings. in 1989 the epa issued the asbestos ban and phase out rule but in 1991, asbestos industry supporters challenged and overturned the ban in a landmark lawsuit: corrosion proof fittings v. the environmental protection agency. although the case resulted in several small victories for asbestos regulation, the epa ultimately did not put an end to asbestos use. this ruling leaves many consumer products that can still legally contain trace amounts of asbestos. for a clarification of products which legally contain asbestos, read the epa's clarification statement. in 2010, washington state banned asbestos in automotive brakes starting in 2014. the occupational safety and health administration (osha), has set limits of 100,000 fibers with lengths greater than or equal to 5 μm per cubic meter of workplace air for eight-hour shifts and 40-hour work weeks. canada in canada, asbestos is not presently banned, though its use has declined since the mid-1970s and early 1980s. products containing asbestos are regulated by the asbestos products regulation (sor 2007/260). on december 16, 2016, parliament stated that as of 2018, all use of asbestos will be totally banned. united kingdom in the united kingdom, blue and brown asbestos materials were banned outright in 1985 while the import, sale and second hand reuse of white asbestos was outlawed in 1999. the 2012 control of asbestos regulations state that owners of non-domestic buildings (e.g., factories and offices) have a "duty to manage" asbestos on the premises by making themselves aware of its presence and ensuring the material does not deteriorate, removing it if necessary. employers, e.g. construction companies, whose operatives may come into contact with asbestos must also provide annual asbestos training to their workers. new zealand in 1984, the import of raw amphibole (blue and brown) asbestos into new zealand was banned. in 2002 the import of chrysotile (white) asbestos was also banned. in 2015 the government announced that the importation of asbestos would be completely banned with very limited exceptions (expected to be applied to replacement parts for older machines) that would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. north-west of nelson, in the upper takaka valley is new zealand's only commercially harvested asbestos mine. a low-grade chrysotile was mined here from 1908 to 1917 but only 100 tons was washed and taken out by packhorse. a new power scheme enabled work to renew and between 1940 and 1949, 40 tons a month was mined by the hume company. this continued to 1964, when, due to the short length of its fibre, the limited commercial viability forced mining to cease. australia asbestos products ltd exporting asbestos the use of crocidolite (blue) asbestos was banned in 1967, while the use of amosite (brown) asbestos continued in the construction industry until the mid-1980s. it was finally banned from building products in 1989, though it remained in gaskets and brake linings until 31 december 2003, and cannot be imported, used or recycled. asbestos continues to be a problem. two out of three homes in australia built between world war ii and the early 1980s still contain asbestos. the union that represents workers tasked with modifying electrical meter boxes at residences stated that workers should refuse to do this work until the boxes have been inspected for asbestos, and the head of the australian council of trade unions (actu) has called on the government to protect its citizens by ridding the country of asbestos by 2030. handlers of asbestos materials must have a b-class license for bonded asbestos and an a-class license for friable asbestos. the town of wittenoom, in western australia was built around a blue asbestos mine. the entire town continues to be contaminated, and has been disincorporated, allowing local authorities to remove references to wittenoom from maps and roadsigns. brazil despite the mining and use of asbestos reaching the country's supreme court, brazil is the world's third-largest producer and exporter of chrysotile asbestos. são paulo state law 12.684/07 prohibits the use of any product which utilizes asbestos but many buildings are still constructed of products containing asbestos. as a result, it is estimated that up to 15,000 brazilians die each year of exposure to asbestos. japan revelations that hundreds of workers had died in japan over the previous few decades from diseases related to asbestos sparked a scandal in mid-2005. tokyo had, in 1971, ordered companies handling asbestos to install ventilators and check health on a regular basis; however, the japanese government did not ban crocidolite and amosite until 1995, and a near complete ban with a few exceptions on asbestos was implemented in 2006, with the remaining exceptions being removed in march 2012 for a full-fledged ban. south korea in may 1997, the manufacture and use of crocidolite and amosite, commonly known as blue and brown asbestos, were fully banned in south korea. in january 2009, a full-fledged ban on all types of asbestos occurred when the government banned the manufacture, import, sale, storage, transport or use of asbestos or any substance containing more than 0.1% of asbestos. in 2011, south korea became the world's sixth country to enact an asbestos harm aid act, which entitles any korean citizen to free lifetime medical care