REALITY OF ASBESTOS EXPOSURES IN MONFALCONE

by PAOLA BARBAN and CLAUDIO SINISCALCHI

From a criminal point of view, the lawyer Chiara Paternoster, who represents the Association of Asbestos Exposed of Monfalcone, says that after many sentences that have become final and won, the trials are now on the way to exhaustion, either because of the death or the very advanced age of the defendants or because of the statute of limitations. Civil and insurance lawsuits, on the other hand, remain. A few days ago, the sentence issued by the Regional Administrative Court of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which condemned the Ministry of Defense to compensate the family of a Trieste soldier who died from exposure to asbestos with 600 thousand euros.

The Lieutenant Marshal of the Navy, Passed away at the age of 63, he had worked for over thirty years on military ships, from 1966 to 2004. A few years later pleural mesothelioma began to manifest itself and – despite the fact that the Ministry had recognized the widow’s social security benefits – the family continued the lawsuit, assisted by the lawyer Ezio Bonanni, president of the National Asbestos Observatory. The ruling of the Regional Administrative Court recognized the lack of protection of the State towards its employee, reaching the significant compensation to the family.

But asbestos has not only affected shipyard workers – and we know the tragic legacy left to Monfalcone – and those who sailed on those ships. Many cases have been recorded in the textile and wood sectors, sectors in which fast machinery was used, whose brakes for blocking were precisely made of asbestos. And again construction workers, especially when employed in the demolition of buildings built until the 60s with abundant use of the mineral.

Those who work in the care of asbestos victims patients place three priorities:

• the first is to convince all people who have used or worked in the presence of asbestos to undergo periodic medical examinations to intercept the disease as soon as possible, ensuring uniformity of service throughout the Region (which would also be desirable at a national level);
• the second is training on the danger of asbestos and prevention activities. To date, there is no scientific evidence of the danger of new generation asbestos replacement fibers used for thermal and acoustic insulation in construction, in the textile industry and as reinforcers of plastics, cements and composite materials, such as AES biosoluble mineral wools, rock wool or glass fibers.
• the third is the remediation activity, carried out in the FVG Region by the Environment Directorate, with the remediation and micro-collection of asbestos used in construction, on roofs, in pipes (especially those entering our homes, while those leaving our homes are not a problem). It is estimated that there are still about 40 million tons of asbestos present in 1 million sites and microsites in Italy, with a significant impact on public health. In Friuli Venezia Giulia, the first Regional Asbestos Plan dates back to 1997, updated in 2018, up to the Regional Plan for Special Waste and Asbestos of July 2024, which provides contributions for removal for municipalities, businesses and individuals.
  
  

It is difficult to quantify how many workers are at risk: the Asbestos Exposed Association in 2024 provided the figure of about 60,000 people who died from asbestos-related diseases in the last 10 years. About 2000 cases of mesothelioma recorded in 2023, with a mortality rate of 93% in the previous 5 years. An additional approximately 4000 new lung cancer diagnoses in 2023, with a 12% 5-year survival rate, causing about 3500 deaths. In addition to mesothelioma and lung cancer, asbestos causes other diseases, including asbestosis and various neoplasms, with a total impact of more than 7000 deaths and 10,000 new patients.

Despite the alarming picture, we must not give in to alarmism but rather focus on concrete actions: medical examinations for those at risk, training and prevention, remediation.