Sheet Packing - Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure Risks

Sheet packing is used in many different mechanical applications, especially as gaskets or as packing around joints or gears that generate high temperatures. Asbestos was favored for these applications because of its high resistance to heat. Asbestos packing and gaskets were often used in and around Navy ships and shipyards for many different purposes, including pump gaskets and packing and valve packing. Pipefitters and maintenance crew on Navy ships or other industrial class ships were often exposed to asbestos when they removed and replaced gaskets and sheet packing in pumps and gaskets in the course of their work. Asbestos insulated the valves and was used as packing for valves and pumps in nearly all Navy ships built between World War I and the 1980s because the material had higher insulating properties and was lighter than any other material that could be used for that purpose.

In addition to Naval workers who would have been exposed to asbestos in sheet packing in the course of performing their duties, others who may have been exposed to asbestos sheet packing include those who mixed the dry asbestos with rubber, cotton and other materials to manufacture the sheet packing; others who worked in the same areas, factories and plants where asbestos gaskets and sheet packing was fabricated; family members of those workers; mechanics, ship mechanics and maintenance workers who worked with pumps, valves and other plumbing and piping; demolition workers; ship demolition workers and family or household members of any of the above, among others.

Among the manufacturers that have supplied parts, valves and pumps containing asbestos to the U.S. Navy are Buffalo Pump, Buffalo Forge Company, Crane Co., Goulds Pumps, Incorporated, Warren Pumps and Yarway Corporation. This is not a complete list of manufacturers who used asbestos sheet packing in their products. Asbestos packing materials were widely used in most industries for insulation and for making flexible joints and seals on machinery.

While sealed asbestos is not necessarily a danger, the asbestos sheet packing was regularly subjected to conditions that wore at it and disintegrated it. When asbestos is disturbed or damaged, it may become friable, shedding asbestos fibers and dust into the air where it can remain for long periods of time. Once the asbestos fibers are friable, they may be inhaled or swallowed by those who are exposed to them.

Between the early 1900s and about 1980 when the EPA, OSHA and other organizations instituted regulations for safe handling of asbestos in construction and the workplace, hundreds of thousands of workers were exposed to asbestos fibers and dust in the workplace and at home.

Anyone who serviced or services pumps and valve fittings is at increased risk of developing mesothelioma, a rare cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma affects the linings of the lungs, heart or abdomen, causing the cells to grow out of control and strangle the organs that they are meant to be protecting and lubricating. It is a painful, debilitating and always fatal condition that has only one known cause - exposure to asbestos fibers.

The manufacturers and suppliers of asbestos containing products like sheet packing were aware of the dangers of asbestos, but they made no effort to warn those who used their products of those dangers. Because of this, many of them have been successfully sued for compensation by those who developed mesothelioma as a result of the use of their products. If you worked with asbestos sheet packing or any other asbestos containing product or material prior and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos related condition, contact a mesothelioma lawyer to find out about your legal options.

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