
Protective mouth mask, Norsk Farmasihistorisk Museum. CC BY-SA
As far as handling the material goes, women working in factories were often responsible for cutting up rolled out asbestos, or beating it into forms with hammers. A well-known case is that of Casale Monferrato in Italy, where hundreds of female workers from the Eternit factory passed away as a consequence of such exposure to asbestos.

Booth of the company Eternit at a building fair in Göteborg showcasing a range of products containing asbestos, 1923, Tekniska museet. Public Domain
But asbestos has also affected homemakers. Female family members of asbestos workers were often responsible for washing the clothes they wore on the job. In the process, they touched and inhaled the fibres, leaving them as vulnerable as their spouses.
Families of victims, health organisations, and investigative journalists such as Maria Roselli have been advocating for years for a worldwide ban on asbestos. Yet three quarters of the members of the World Health Organisation have failed to do so thus far, leaving asbestos to remain the most toxic substance for present-day workers - and their loved ones.
By Sofie Taes, KU Leuven – Photoconsortium
With special thanks to Larissa Borck
Europe at Work - Share your story
Were you or your family affected by asbestos? Share your story and help us tell the story of Europe through our working lives in the past and the present.

This blog post is a part of the 50s in Europe Kaleidoscope project, which explores the 1950s as a significant period of geopolitical changes in Europe and the start of many new cultural and social movements.
Feature image: Asbestos used in food production at Tarkett's factory in Ronnebyhamn, Blekinge museum, CC BY-NC