OSHA has cited seven construction companies – three Miami-based contractors and four San Antonio-based subcontractors – with 45 serious and one other-than-serious violation for exposing workers to asbestos hazards at a San Antonio construction work site. Proposed penalties total $148,000.

An employee who reported improper asbestos removal practices was fired and subjected to verbal threats and legal action, according to OSHA, which conducted a whistleblower investigation into the case.

OSHA has cited Sodexho Inc. with safety and health violations – 12 of them serious – found while maintenance workers removed asbestos at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi. OSHA initiated an inspection March 8 in response to a complaint. Proposed fines total $81,000.

Epidemiologists and other health experts from more than 20 countries are calling for a global ban on the mining, use and export of all forms of asbestos because exposure to the toxic chemical causes mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestiosis.

An Illinois man has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for the illegal removal, handling and disposal of asbestos from a Kankakee building in August 2009.

A new study finds that 5 percent of all cancer deaths in Britain – approximately 8,000 deaths each year --are linked to occupations, particularly those where asbestos, diesel engine fumes or shift work is involved.

A New York asbestos removal contractor allowed inadequately trained workers to remove asbestos while wearing ripped and torn protective suits and no respiratory protection.

Although increasingly under fire for its health risks, asbestos consumption in the U.S. has increased dramatically.

Erionite is a naturally occurring mineral that belongs to a group of silicate minerals called zeolites. It is usually found in volcanic ash that has been altered by weathering and ground water.