Since that time asbestos containing products were used by the construction and building trades the automotive industry and the manufacturing industry. Asbestos is still imported still used and still dangerous. Although it is suggested that the number of mesothelioma cases in the u. 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 . All told more than products contained asbestos. Asbestos was used commercially in north america as early as the late s but its use increased dramatically during the world war ii era when shipyards produced massive numbers of ships for the war effort.