CM Gun Mix

Product Description

CM Gun Mix was a spray-applied construction and industrial material manufactured by Keene Corporation. Designed for application through pneumatic spray equipment—commonly called a “gun”—this product served multiple functional roles across heavy industry and commercial construction. Its versatility made it a material of choice in settings where thermal protection, fireproofing, and surface coating were required simultaneously or in rapid succession.

The product’s name reflects its intended method of application: a pneumatic or compressed-air gun system that allowed workers to apply the mixed material to structural steel, piping systems, refractory surfaces, and other industrial substrates. This spray method was favored in large-scale industrial projects because it allowed for fast, even coverage over irregular surfaces, including overhead beams, complex pipe configurations, and the interior surfaces of industrial furnaces or boilers.

Keene Corporation, headquartered in the United States, was a diversified industrial manufacturer with operations spanning multiple product categories relevant to construction and heavy manufacturing. The company’s product lines historically intersected with several trades and industries where asbestos-containing materials were in widespread use. CM Gun Mix appears across multiple product categories in litigation and industrial records, including floor tile applications, pipe insulation, refractory installations, spray fireproofing, and valve and steam trap systems—reflecting the broad scope of environments in which the material was deployed.

Asbestos Content

CM Gun Mix has been identified in asbestos litigation as a product alleged to have contained asbestos fibers. The specific fiber types and percentage concentrations associated with CM Gun Mix are not uniformly established in publicly available regulatory documentation, and the product does not appear in AHERA sample databases with standardized test results applicable across all formulations or production periods.

However, litigation records document that plaintiffs alleged the product contained asbestos as a functional component. Given CM Gun Mix’s cross-category use—spanning refractory materials, spray fireproofing, and pipe insulation—the presence of asbestos would have been consistent with industry-standard formulations of similar spray-applied products during the mid-twentieth century. Asbestos was commonly incorporated into such materials for its heat resistance, tensile reinforcement, and fire-retardant properties, all of which were critical performance requirements for the applications in which CM Gun Mix was used.

Plaintiffs in asbestos litigation further alleged that Keene Corporation knew or should have known of the hazardous nature of asbestos-containing products within its manufacturing portfolio, including materials like CM Gun Mix, and that adequate warnings were not provided to workers who handled or were otherwise exposed to these products.

How Workers Were Exposed

The spray-application method that defined CM Gun Mix’s use created conditions particularly conducive to airborne fiber release. When dry or mixed materials containing asbestos are fed through pneumatic spray systems, the mechanical action of pressurized delivery can generate significant quantities of airborne dust. Workers operating the spray equipment—as well as those in surrounding areas—would have been exposed to this airborne material during active application.

Litigation records document that industrial workers generally were among those alleged to have experienced occupational exposure to CM Gun Mix. Because the product crossed multiple categories of industrial use, exposure was not limited to a single trade or job classification. Workers in the following operational contexts may have encountered CM Gun Mix:

  • Spray fireproofing crews applying material to structural steel members in industrial facilities, power plants, refineries, and commercial buildings
  • Pipe insulation workers using spray-applied materials on complex or hard-to-reach pipe configurations
  • Refractory workers lining furnaces, boilers, kilns, and other high-temperature industrial equipment
  • Valve and steam trap maintenance personnel working in proximity to insulated systems where CM Gun Mix had been previously applied
  • General industrial workers present in facilities where the product was being applied or where previously applied material had deteriorated

Secondary exposure was also a documented concern in asbestos litigation generally. Workers who did not directly handle spray-applied asbestos materials but labored in proximity to their application—or who worked in facilities where aged, damaged, or deteriorating applications released fibers—were also alleged to have sustained exposure.

The refractory and spray fireproofing applications are of particular concern from an exposure standpoint. High-temperature environments subject asbestos-containing surface coatings to physical stress, vibration, and thermal cycling, all of which can cause bonded materials to crack, flake, or crumble over time. Maintenance, repair, or removal work performed on surfaces previously treated with CM Gun Mix would have created additional opportunities for fiber release, often in confined or poorly ventilated spaces.