While the use of asbestos was banned in 1993, exposure (both environmental and occupational) to it still occurs due to renovation of buildings, repairing of ships, soil decontamination, and the presence of asbestos in the environment.
The most common health effects of exposure to asbestos are pleural and peritoneal cancer (mesothelioma) and lung cancer. Recently, the Dutch Health Council (GR) reassessed the studies aimed at the relation between asbestos exposure and cancer (see www.gr.nl).
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