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Health, Work, Invisibilities and Collective Resistance in an Asbestos-Exposed Territory in the Pedro Leopoldo Region, (MG), Brazil

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Asbestos, a group 1 carcinogen, has generated a serious health and environmental liability in Pedro Leopoldo/MG, Brazil, even after its national ban in 2017. This study aims to analyze the silent epidemic of asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) through the lens of social injustice. We used a qualitative, socio-historical, and clinical approach within the framework of an Expanded Research Community (ERC), based on ergology, with content analysis of interviews with workers and institutional documents. The evidence reveals a pattern of institutional silencing and omission, marked by corporate fraud, denial of risk, and medical underreporting, perpetuating occupational, domestic, and environmental exposure. In response, the Brazilian Association of Asbestos-Exposed Individuals of Minas Gerais (ABREA/MG) emerged as a central actor in the struggle for recognition and justice. It is concluded that overcoming this injustice requires structured public policies of recognition, integrated surveillance, historical reparation, and strengthening of the SUS (Unified Health System), with collective resistance being fundamental to transforming suffering into memory and social demands.

Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph23030315

Authors: Eliana Guimaraes Felix, Alexandro Cristino Guimaraes

Institutions: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz

Language: English

Topic: Occupational Health and Global Justice

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,016