Asbestos continues to instill fear and claim victims. The risks are increasingly widespread: not only direct contact but also environmental exposure to the killer fiber represents a concrete threat. "In theory, we are all at risk now," observed Giampaolo Lilliu, president of the Association of Ex-Asbestos Exposed , on the occasion of the International Day in Remembrance of the Victims. Hence the call for an extraordinary plan to address an environmental and health emergency.

The data confirms that the killer fiber isn't just affecting former workers employed in the province's factories, particularly Sardit in Oristano and Cema Sarda in Marrubiu. "There's an increase in diagnoses of conditions like asbestosis and mesothelioma, even among people who had no direct contact with the fibrous material," explains Lilliu. Over the past year, there have been 255 victims on the island, 42 of them in the province of Oristano (in Italy, asbestos causes over 7,000 deaths each year). This worrying situation is closely linked to the context and the surrounding environment: 70 percent of homes have asbestos cement structures, and 56 schools have been found to contain asbestos. "Until recently, there was also the Deledda middle school," recalls President Lilliu, "but after 20 years of struggle by our association, that school was finally demolished and remediated. Unfortunately, there are still sports facilities, 9,000 kilometers of asbestos-filled water pipes, entire industrial zones, and public buildings with the presence of asbestos."

Meanwhile, tomorrow in court, the judge is expected to decide on the request to commit to trial four former Sardit officials who, according to the prosecutor, failed to take the necessary and appropriate measures to prevent or reduce the spread of asbestos dust produced during manufacturing.

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