Introduction: Asbestos is a natural material composed by fibers, which is highly attractive to industry due to its properties, among others, of strength, durability and insulation. The findings of the scientific community and the categorization as a carcinogenic agent for humans would be sufficient grounds for States to take actions of restriction and absolute prohibition of asbestos. However, nowadays 64 countries have banned it and, although the WHO and the ILO are promoting the banning of this material since 1986, states like the Colombia do not advance in the adoption of a law that completely eradicates it. Objective: To determine if there are sufficient elements to consider the Colombian State as patrimonially responsible for allowing the use and extraction of asbestos in the national territory. Materials and methods: A systematic review of scientific and legal literature in English, Spanish and Portuguese published between 2000 and 2018 with the search terms asbestos, asbestos and asbestos / epidemic. The variables included were Asbestos, time of exposure, type of exposure, latency time, corporation that decides and subject that issues the norm. Results: (i) Asbestos is a fibrous mineral with high toxicity due to inhalation exposure that causes several diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. (ii) Scientific evidence has shown that it is a carcinogen for humans, in such a way that it has been cataloged by IARC as Group I. (iii) The Colombian State could be patrimonially responsible for the violation of the rights to life, to work in decent conditions, to health, to public health and to the enjoyment of a healthy environment due to the permissiveness of the use and extraction of asbestos in the national territory.
