Most victims of asbestos-related diseases were exposed on the job, or by using a product containing the deadly mineral. But others are among the “third wave” of the asbestos epidemic – people whose only exposure came from contact with family members.

Barbara Bobo of Florence, Ala. died in 2012 of malignant pleural mesothelioma after spending decades washing the asbestos-laced clothes worn by her husband James. He died in 1997 from lung cancer attributed to his exposure to asbestos in the insulation used at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, where he worked for more than 20 years. Last week, a federal judge in Huntsville, Ala. ordered the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the power plant, to pay $3.5 million to Mrs. Bobo’s family.

A new report by the EWG Action Fund shows more than 3,100 Alabamans died from asbestos-related disease between 1999 and 2013. The analysis combines federal records of deaths from mesothelioma and asbestosis, and a formula developed by international cancer researchers with the World Health Organization for estimating lung cancer deaths from asbestos. It’s estimated that up to 15,000 Americans die each year from asbestos-related disease.

While the use of asbestos has diminished since the early 1980s after its health risks became apparent, it remains legal and continues to be brought into the U.S. EWG Action Fund found that roughly 8 million pounds of raw asbestos and asbestos-containing materials have been imported in the U.S. since 2006, including more than 56,000 pounds into the port in Mobile, Ala.

EWG Action Fund has dedicated the website of its Asbestos Nation campaign to the memory of Michael Bradley, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 29 from mesothelioma. It is believed Michael was exposed to asbestos as result of his father’s work at a landfill in North Carolina that contained asbestos.

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  EWG Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that is a separate sister organization of the Environmental Working Group. The mission of EWG Action Fund is to protect health and the environment by educating the public and lobbying on a wide range of environmental issues. Donations to EWG Action Fund are not tax-deductible.