Paper mill workers ran enormous, hot, steam-driven machines — paper machines with heated dryer cans, roll stacks, and the boiler and steam systems that fed them. For decades the dryer felts, roll and pipe insulation, gaskets, and packing on those machines were allegedly made with asbestos. Machine tenders, back tenders, millwrights, pipefitters, and maintenance crews were exposed to fiber throughout their careers.
How Paper Mill Workers Were Exposed
The paper-machine dry end ran webs of felt over rows of steam-heated dryer cans, and for years those dryer felts contained asbestos. Changing and handling worn felts — and working alongside them as they abraded in service — released fiber directly onto the machine floor. Rolls, dryer hoods, and steam headers were insulated with asbestos lagging that millwrights stripped and reapplied during rebuilds. The steam and condensate systems that powered the machines used asbestos gaskets and packing on valves, pumps, and flanges, cut and scraped during every maintenance turn.
The Asbestos Materials — and the Products They Came In
Exposure tracked to a handful of material types. Each links to products documented in the AsbestosIndex as allegedly asbestos-containing:
Dryer felts — changed, handled, and run over steam-heated dryer cans:
- Asten Johnson asbestos paper-mill dryer felts — allegedly asbestos-containing
Roll & machine insulation — lagging on dryer hoods, rolls, and refiner equipment:
- Beloit Yankee dryer asbestos fabric hood insulation · Bird Machine pulp dryer asbestos fabric roll wrap · Sandy Hill refiner plate asbestos fabric backing — allegedly asbestos-containing
Pipe insulation — pipe covering stripped and reapplied on mill steam and process lines:
- Johns-Manville Kaylo pipe insulation · Careytemp block insulation — allegedly asbestos-containing
Gaskets & packing — cut and repacked on mill pumps, valves, and flanges:
- Garlock compressed asbestos sheet gaskets · John Crane braided asbestos pump packing · Palmetto asbestos pump & valve packing — allegedly asbestos-containing
Browse the full Dryer Felts, Paper Mill, and Pipe Covering categories for more.
Take-Home Risk to Families
Like other dusty trades, paper mill workers carried asbestos fibers home on their clothing, skin, and tools — exposing spouses and children who never worked with asbestos. See take-home asbestos exposure.
If you worked in a paper mill and were diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease after exposure to asbestos on the job, you may have a legal claim.
Product references reflect allegations documented in publicly filed asbestos litigation. This information is published by an independent media organization — not a law firm — and is educational only. It does not constitute legal advice or provide legal services.