Kelly Moore Paint: Asbestos Product Reference

Product Description

Kelly Moore Paint was a widely distributed architectural and industrial coating product manufactured and distributed during the 1970s. During the period from approximately 1970 through 1978, certain formulations of Kelly Moore Paint contained added mineral components intended to improve product performance characteristics such as texture, adhesion, durability, and fire resistance. Asbestos-containing additives were incorporated into some paint and coating formulations during this era as a matter of industry-wide practice, with chrysotile asbestos valued for its reinforcing and binding properties in applied coatings.

Although Kelly Moore Paint is primarily recognized as a surface coating product, litigation records document its use in industrial settings where the product was applied to pipes, structural surfaces, and equipment as part of broader insulation and protective coating applications. In pipe insulation contexts specifically, industrial-grade coating products were sometimes applied over or alongside traditional insulation materials, and some formulations were designed to provide both surface protection and a degree of thermal or fire resistance.

The product was distributed broadly across commercial and industrial markets during the years it contained asbestos additives, reaching facilities including manufacturing plants, refineries, shipyards, and other heavy industrial environments where pipe systems and equipment coatings were routinely applied and maintained.

Asbestos Content

Kelly Moore Paint formulations produced during the 1970 to 1978 production window are identified in litigation records as containing chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile, sometimes referred to as white asbestos, is a serpentine mineral fiber that was the most commonly used form of asbestos in commercial and industrial products throughout the twentieth century. Its flexibility, heat resistance, and ability to bind with other materials made it a practical additive in textured coatings, surface compounds, and industrial paints.

Chrysotile fibers were incorporated into paint and coating products during this period to serve multiple functional roles. In textured or heavy-bodied formulations, the fibers contributed structural integrity to the dried film. In products marketed for industrial pipe and equipment coating applications, chrysotile’s thermal and chemical resistance properties were considered desirable performance characteristics.

Plaintiffs alleged that chrysotile asbestos was present in Kelly Moore Paint in concentrations sufficient to release respirable fibers during normal application, surface preparation, and disturbance activities. Under the regulatory standards later established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the standards governing asbestos-containing materials under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), chrysotile fibers of respirable dimensions are classified as a known human carcinogen associated with mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.

How Workers Were Exposed

Industrial workers represent the primary occupational category documented in litigation records involving Kelly Moore Paint during the 1970 to 1978 production period. Exposure pathways in industrial settings were varied and often cumulative, occurring across multiple tasks associated with the application, maintenance, and removal of asbestos-containing coatings.

Workers applying Kelly Moore Paint products in industrial environments were exposed through the mixing and preparation of paint formulations, activities that could release dry or aerosolized chrysotile fibers into the breathing zone. Brush, roller, and spray application of coating products on pipe surfaces and industrial equipment created conditions under which fiber release was documented or alleged to have occurred.

Plaintiffs alleged that spray application methods in particular generated elevated airborne fiber concentrations, as the mechanical action of spraying could break apart fiber-containing materials and suspend chrysotile fibers in workplace air. Industrial workers operating in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces such as pipe chases, boiler rooms, mechanical rooms, and processing facilities faced compounded exposure risks when spray application was used.

Maintenance and renovation activities presented additional exposure scenarios. Sanding, scraping, or otherwise abrading dried coatings containing chrysotile asbestos during surface preparation or repair work could disturb previously stable fiber-containing films and re-release fibers into the air. Litigation records document that industrial workers performing these secondary disturbance tasks were not always aware that the coatings they were working with contained asbestos, particularly given the lack of required product labeling and worker hazard communication standards during the early 1970s.

Workers in proximity to painting and coating operations, including pipefitters, insulators, maintenance personnel, and other tradespeople working in shared industrial spaces, may also have experienced bystander exposure to chrysotile fibers released during nearby coating activities. The latency period associated with asbestos-related diseases — often ranging from ten to fifty years between exposure and diagnosis — means that workers exposed to Kelly Moore Paint during the 1970 to 1978 period may be receiving diagnoses today.