Bari, Rebirth Park: Construction time is extended in the former Fibronit area.

Epidemiological analyses of asbestos-related deaths in Bari predicted 2025 to be the peak year, then a decline would begin, paralleling the increasingly prolonged timeframe for the safety and remediation of the former Fibronit area. This, however, doesn't mean the problem is solved. With asbestos fibers in the lungs having a latency period that can be "unleashed" even 40 years after exposure, pleural mesothelioma still looms large over those who live or have lived in Bari's red zone, the one-kilometer radius surrounding the former factory of death.

"This infamous peak, which was supposed to be recorded around 2025, was a fact that emerged from some research and analyses, but many other analyses in the years to come have increasingly pushed this critical moment forward," explains Lillo Mendola of the Bari Association of Asbestos Victims' Families. "Honestly, I don't know if we've already reached it, or if it's still to come. Just like when we talk about "last gasps," people who still get sick and die today. To make light of it, when my wife got sick and died of mesothelioma in 2005, I told her she was a last gasp. But there's nothing much to laugh about, right? These are lives. Whether it's one or 10 doesn't make much difference to family and friends."

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