Here's the trick: 3% of all lung cancer in men may be result of asbestos exposure, but most men are never exposed, so we have to know more about odds ratios in individual professions or exposure categories to determine if 3% is low or high.
Until you get all the data carefully arranged, it's hard to even communicate whether asbestos is a serious health risk or not. In this case, I would call it a moderate risk to people with medium to high exposure: Less than cigarette smoking, more than just living in a city. 
Source:
"Occupational exposure to asbestos and lung cancer in men: evidence from a population-based case-control study in eight Canadian provinces"
BMC Cancer. 2012; 12: 595.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
"Occupational exposure to asbestos and lung cancer in men: evidence from a population-based case-control study in eight Canadian provinces"
BMC Cancer. 2012; 12: 595.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
This is why I find it hard to get too excited about asbestos regulation OR deregulation. It's a profession-specific risk of moderate intensity that can be mostly mitigated with PPE. The risk to the general public appears to be quite small.
