Although it is suggested that the number of mesothelioma cases in the u. Finally in the late s the consumer products safety commission banned the use of asbestos in wallboard patching compounds and artificial ash for gas fireplaces because the fiber could easily be released during use. See our page on mesothelioma risk factors. . At some point in our lives nearly all of us have been exposed to asbestos in the air we breathe and the water we drink from natural deposits in the earth and from the deterioration of asbestos products around us. Has reached its peak and has begun to drop a forecast released by the national cancer institutes surveillance epidemiology and end results program seer in april projected the total number of american male mesothelioma cases from to be approximately .