Risk Perception and Management of the Asbestos Industry in Korea: Rise and Fall of the Industry and Health Issues

Abstract

The term asbestosis was first used in 1924 by Cook to describe a case of chronic lung fibrosis from asbestos exposure. An association of asbestos with lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma has been reported since the latter half of the twentieth century, and since then asbestos has become one of the best known occupational carcinogens. Lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure will continue for many more years to constitute the majority of the occupational cancers diagnosed and compensated in the world. Almost every country regulates the use of asbestos, and many countries have banned its use completely.

Even though the carcinogenic nature of asbestos has been reported in academic journals, its use soared in many developed countries until the 1980s. Its use is still increasing in other parts of the world, especially in newly developing countries such as those in Southeast Asia. Historically, the regulation of the manufacture of asbestos products in one country has led only to the transfer of the production base to another country.