Posted on May 14, 2026

A newly published 2026 study in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas provides new evidence that asbestos exposure continues to cause preventable cancers and occupational disease across the Americas, while highlighting growing health disparities linked to ongoing asbestos use and weak protections.  

Using Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 data, researchers analyzed asbestos-related cancers from 1990 to 2023, including mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers. The findings reinforce decades of scientific evidence that asbestos remains one of the world’s leading occupational carcinogens.

The new analysis builds on earlier Global Burden of Disease findings through 2019 and confirms two diverging trends. Countries with stronger asbestos regulations and phase-outs are seeing declining mortality and disability rates. In contrast, regions with continued asbestos use or weaker protections are experiencing worsening disease burden.

Researchers found the highest overall asbestos-related cancer burden remained in High-income North America, including the United States and Canada. However, the sharpest increases were observed in Tropical and Southern Latin America, especially among women in Argentina and Brazil.

The study reports that in 2023, “High-income North America had the highest burden of cancer attributable to occupational asbestos, with 5·1 deaths.”

“This new Lancet analysis confirms what thoracic surgeons and public health experts have witnessed for decades: asbestos exposure continues to cause preventable cancers and death long after exposure occurs. While some countries have reduced disease through stronger regulations, the rising burden among women and in parts of Latin America should alarm policymakers worldwide. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and devastating disease with no safe level of asbestos exposure. Prevention, early intervention, and comprehensive asbestos bans remain essential to protecting future generations.” — Dr. Raja Flores, Chairman for the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Steven and Ann Ames Professor in Thoracic Surgery at the Mount Sinai Health System.

Importantly, the 2023 analysis adds:

  • clearer evidence of rising asbestos-related disease burden among women,
  • sharper regional disparities across the Americas,
  • stronger links between ongoing asbestos use and increasing cancer rates,
  • greater urgency for prevention and comprehensive asbestos ban policies, and
  • expanded recognition of environmental and legacy asbestos exposures.

The study also found that lung cancer remains the leading asbestos-attributable cancer burden, while mesothelioma continues to serve as one of the clearest indicators of asbestos exposure. Researchers noted that asbestos exposure risks persist not only in occupational settings, but also through aging infrastructure, schools, homes, demolition activities, and environmental contamination.

These findings arrive at a critical moment in the United States.

On June 1, oral arguments will be heard in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the EPA’s Part I Chrysotile Asbestos Rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The rule addresses one asbestos fiber type under six conditions of use and represents one of the most significant federal asbestos actions in decades.

Even after years of scientific consensus, asbestos remains a continuing public health and prevention issue. The latest Lancet analysis reinforces the need for stronger asbestos prevention policies, comprehensive bans without loopholes or exemptions, improved worker protections, and long-term disease surveillance.

Prevention remains the cure.

Linda Reinstein 

Source: “The Lancet Regional Health – Americas (2026), “Burden of cancer attributable to occupational asbestos exposure in the Americas, 1990–2023.”

2026 Sponsors: ADAO is grateful to our sponsors and supporters, especially our Platinum Sponsors: Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP and Simmons Hanly Conroy, LLP, Gold Sponsors: The Gori Law Firm and Motley Rice LLC, and Silver Sponsor Early, Lucarelli, Sweeney & Meisenkothen.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, does not make legal referrals.