An article in the US trade publication ISHN, published on 7 October 2026, is a reminder that the effects of asbestos exposure are often not immediately visible. Workers who handled asbestos-containing materials decades ago may only now be diagnosed. The risk is not confined to the United States: in virtually every jurisdiction, older buildings still contain asbestos-containing materials that can be released during renovation or demolition. For HSE professionals this matters because the exposure often does not come to light with the employer at the time, but only years later, once a former worker has moved on or retired.
Why can the disease surface only decades later?
Inhaled asbestos fibres can remain in the body for years without causing symptoms. According to Italy’s national mesothelioma registry (ReNaM), cited in the ISHN article, the median latency between exposure and diagnosis is 44.6 years, ranging from 6 to 84 years. In the United States, the article notes, around 2,500 people still die of mesothelioma each year, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen. The death rate has been falling faster since 2011, which the author attributes to stricter exposure controls. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to keep exposure records for at least 30 years, and medical records for the duration of employment plus 30 years afterwards. That long retention period reflects the fact that health damage only becomes apparent after the latency period, long after exposure has ended.
Who is at risk when older buildings are renovated or demolished?
OSHA assumes that insulation and finishing materials in US buildings built before 1981 contain asbestos, unless measurements prove otherwise. Renovation and demolition can release fibres that affect not only the workers carrying out the job, but also bystanders such as electricians, painters and other tradespeople working nearby, who the article says were rarely given respiratory protection. Family members who wash contaminated work clothing can also be exposed, which is why OSHA has separate rules for contaminated workwear. According to the author, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Regulation keeps evolving: a 2024 ban by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the ongoing use of chrysotile asbestos is under review by a federal court of appeals, and in August two senators introduced a bill for a complete federal asbestos ban.
Context
Within the European Union, Directive 2009/148/EC imposes similar obligations. Amending Directive 2023/2668/EU lowers the binding exposure limit from 0.1 to 0.01 fibres per cubic centimetre of air (an eight-hour time-weighted average), to be enforced from 21 December 2025, with a further tightening to follow by 21 December 2029 at the latest. Workers undergo a medical examination at least every three years during exposure, and employers must keep exposure records for 40 years. Demolition and asbestos removal within the EU also require a permit, with preference given to dust-free working methods.
Source: Why Asbestos Exposure Can Remain a Workplace Hazard for Decades, 7 October 2026
Additional research: EU-OSHA, Directive 2009/148/EC on exposure to asbestos at work, OSHA, 29 CFR 1926.1101
