There is no doubt about the devastating impact asbestos has had on lives. Asbestos effects include job loss, economic deprivation, illness and fatalities. Companies have folded as a result of their inability to protect their workers against harmful asbestos effects. In mining towns, workers and their families have paid the price of asbestos. This includes asbestosis, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses. The lag between exposure and the onset of illness may be as much as 50 years. As a result, asbestos continues to impact upon the lives of individuals long after improvements have been made to the flawed regulatory system in mining and industrial production of handling asbestos. Effects have included long-reaching litigation. Lawsuits have been an integral part of the asbestos fallout since the 1970s. The continued argument concerning the use of chrysotile in the production of construction materials will ensure the problem of asbestos exposure does not disappear soon.