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In a landmark ruling on asbestos, a court in Spain has ordered a manufacturer to pay millions of euros in compensation to residents whose health was damaged by decades of environmental exposure to asbestos.

The Spanish building materials company, Uralita, was ordered to pay the equivalent of $4.9 million to 45 people who lived near an asbestos-cement factory in a Barcelona suburb for “damage to the lungs, leading in some cases to death,” according to the French news agency, Agence France Presse.

Asbestos exposure causes serious respiratory disease including malignant mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen, lung cancer, and non-cancer conditions such as asbestosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs that causing difficulty breathing. More than 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in the workplace today, according to the World Health Organization.

The legal decision is a landmark because it’s the first time that a court in Spain has ordered a company to compensate local residents for health issues related to environmental exposure to asbestos, according to the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais. Previous awards have been to workers who developed health problems after occupational exposure to asbestos in their workplace.

Asbestos was widely used in construction products such as insulation, tile, pipe and for fire-proofing. The Uralita factory used asbestos in the manufacture of cement for decades until use of the mineral fiber was banned in Spain in 2001. The company has said it will appeal.

More than 40 countries including all member states of the European Union have banned all forms of asbestos. Other countries including the United States have restricted asbestos, but continue to allow its use in the manufacture of certain products.