Product Description

Insulation Industries supplied refractory hot-face block and brick used to line the interior working surfaces of industrial furnaces, kilns, boilers, and heat-treat equipment. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, these products were allegedly set with asbestos-containing mortars, insulating cements, and back-up block, and the brick themselves allegedly incorporated asbestos in bonding or finishing systems used to withstand thermal cycling. Refractory masons allegedly cut brick to size on saws, buttered joints with asbestos mortar, and later chipped the whole assembly out during shutdowns, allegedly releasing airborne fibers throughout.

Workers Exposed

Refractory masons, bricklayers assigned to industrial specialty work, and furnace-relining crews allegedly worked closest to Insulation Industries hot-face block and brick during installation and tear-out. Boiler-refractory installers, kiln shutdown contractors, industrial insulators, and glass tank rebuilders allegedly encountered the same dust while finishing adjacent surfaces and stripping legacy linings.