Asbestos - dangerous???

I didn't know about this disease called Mesothelioma (sometimes called Mesothelima), which is a cancer of the inner lining of internal body organs called the mesothelium, caused by exposure to asbestos, until a friend told me about it today. If you work in an environment where exposure to asbestos dust is frequent or even if any of your family members works in such an environment (thus making exposure possible through the dust settled on their clothes) or have had a construction work at your home where asbestos cement or any other asbestos related products were used, you stand a chance of contracting this disease.

What makes this scary is the ubiquitousness and supposed innocuousness of the source. Though smoke is ubiquitous too, we are aware of its harmful effects, and many of us avoid second-hand smoke if we're conscious of our health. Asbestos? I didn't know it could be this harmful. This site here claims this disease has a chance of becoming an epidemic by the year 2015. That does not seem too far away, does it?

Another issue that intrigued me with this case is the legal aspects, which inevitably exist with any issue of such danger. Litigations related to asbestos usage and safety had started way back in 1929, and we still see such widespread usage of this substance around us - so much so that even young students are exposed to it, though in small quantities.