In May 1935, Kenneth Lynch and William Atmar Smith from the Medical College of South Carolina published an article in Cancer Research that first linked brown lung disease (asbestosis) with cancer. Exposure to its dust can cause three fatal diseases: asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum.

Following inquiries by Edward Merewether and Charles Price, the British government introduced regulations to control dangerous dust emissions in UK asbestos factories.