Product Description

Charles Ross & Son planetary mixers were widely deployed in chemical, adhesive, sealant, and pharmaceutical batch processing from roughly the 1940s through the 1980s. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, the agitator shaft seals allegedly used braided asbestos packing rings, and the jacketed vessel cover joints allegedly relied on compressed asbestos sheet gaskets rated for elevated temperatures and aggressive chemistries.

Routine maintenance — repacking the stuffing box, cutting replacement gaskets from sheet stock, scraping cured product from seal faces — allegedly disturbed friable asbestos fibers into the operator breathing zone.

Workers Exposed

  • Chemical process operators charging and discharging batches
  • Pharmaceutical plant blenders running sanitary changeovers
  • Plant mechanics and millwrights repacking agitator seals
  • Plant maintenance mechanics replacing bonnet and jacket gaskets