This is all too often true for many things. Take asbestos for instance, the timescale with it wasn't just a century but about two millennia! The ancient Romans knew about its dangers, as those in asbestos mines were well known to suffer from what was then called wasting disease.
Move on about 1900 years to the late 19th Century and early 20th Century when the British Admiralty and others commissioned
multiple reports into ships' boilermakers, etc. who were commonly found to suffer asbestosis or mesothelioma from the dust from the lagging on steam pipes and boiler insulation.
Despite these damning reports citing clearcut evidence of asbestos causing life-threatening disease, they were all but ignored as asbestos was considered too useful - it outweighed human health considerations.
Keep in mind that most of these reports were commissioned by governments - and unlike commercial interests with a
vested interest in making money - governments are supposed to act in the interests of their citizenry but they didn't.
If governments don't give a damn then there's precious little hope until public pressure eventually forces them to act, which, all too often, is long after considerable harm has ourred to many individuals.
It's quite tragic really that those supposedly in charge of our governance can be so callous so often.