This is the 21st century, do people really still become sick from exposure to asbestos?

Yes. Medical science has shown that it often takes between 15 and 50 years before someone who was exposed to asbestos will start to show signs of the damage it has done. This means that workers exposed to asbestos in the 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s or even the 1970’s might only now be beginning to show signs of the damage that asbestos exposure has done to them. While OSHA and the US government began to outlaw the use of asbestos many years ago, much of it has yet to be abated.Also, strikingly, in response to restrictions on asbestos processing and use in the US, some companies have continued to produce and use vast quantities of asbestos in Third World countries where few safety or environmental laws governing asbestos exist. In 2006 an estimated 2.3 million tons of asbestos were mined worldwide. Several sources predict that the use of asbestos will continue to increase in developing countries. Thus, in 20 to 30 year's time, these countries will experience the devastating diseases that American workers now suffer from.