Health problems linked to asbestos, which was used in large quantities as heat-insulation material for buildings during the period of Japan's high economic growth, are spreading among workers who inhaled the substance in the past. One enterprise after another has released lists of workers who have died of, or are now receiving treatment for, asbestos-linked diseases, gripping many in the nation with fear. Among the dead are the wife of a worker who handled asbestos on the job and people who lived near an asbestos-related factory.

The fear is exacerbated by the fact that the incubation period of asbestos-caused diseases is 20 to 40 years. It is so long that inhalation of asbestos is ominously said to trigger a "quiet time bomb." Nearly 400 people at some 30 businesses are reported to have died of diseases linked to asbestos inhalation, such as lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is a cancerous tumor in the pleura or the peritoneum. The central and local governments and enterprises must do their utmost to understand the scope of the situation and work out necessary measures.

Asbestos, a mineral that exists in the form of threadlike fibers, neither burns nor conducts heat or electricity, and is resistant to acids and alkalis. Because of these characteristics, a large amount of asbestos was used in Japan for fireproofing, heat insulation and friction resistance. Used in metal-mesh grills for broiling fish, toasters, vehicular brakes and city water pipes, or mixed with cement or sprayed onto walls and ceilings, asbestos has existed near ordinary citizens.