Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps — Spirax Sarco

Product Description

Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps were manufactured under the Spirax Sarco name and supplied throughout the period when asbestos was the routine sealing and insulating material in steam trap service. The Spirax Sarco catalog reached American industrial worksites, including power generation facilities, refineries, paper mills, shipyards, and major institutional construction projects.

According to asbestos litigation records, Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps were supplied to American industry through the period when asbestos was treated as the routine sealing and insulating material for high-temperature service. Spirax Sarco built its market position around durability and reliability under demanding conditions — the same operating envelope that drove asbestos use across the steam trap category well into the late 1970s.

Asbestos Content

Court filings document allegations that Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps incorporated asbestos in one or more of the structural roles common to steam trap of the era:

Compressed asbestos gaskets — Steam-trap bodies, covers, and inlet/outlet connections sealed against live steam using compressed asbestos sheet gaskets capable of holding under cyclic temperature and pressure.

Internal trim seals — Float, thermostatic, and thermodynamic mechanisms used asbestos-bearing seal elements where direct exposure to high-temperature condensate would have degraded synthetic materials.

Replacement components — Plaintiffs alleged that OEM replacement seal kits supplied for use in Spirax Sarco traps contained asbestos throughout the period of asbestos use.

Adjacent piping insulation — Steam-trap stations were typically wrapped with asbestos pipe insulation and removable insulation pads on adjacent piping.

The asbestos in these components was not unique to Spirax Sarco; the materials in question were industry-standard well into the 1970s. The relevance to litigation lies in the volume of Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps installed across American worksites and the frequency with which those components were disturbed during ordinary maintenance.

How Workers Were Exposed

Workers most likely to have encountered asbestos through Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps include those whose trades brought them into routine contact with the equipment:

  • Pipefitters and steamfitters — installing, repairing, and rebuilding steam traps and adjacent piping
  • Power-plant maintenance crews — testing and replacing traps on feedwater, condensate, and main-steam lines
  • Process-plant mechanics — servicing trap stations in refining, chemical, and pulp-and-paper plants
  • Insulators — installing and removing trap-station pipe insulation
  • Shipyard workers — overhauling steam traps in shipboard auxiliary systems

Court filings document that bystander and take-home pathways were also common. Workers who did not directly handle Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps but who shared confined work areas with those who did were alleged to have inhaled the same airborne fibers. Family members were exposed through fibers carried home on contaminated work clothing — a pathway recognized in occupational medicine and asbestos litigation as take-home or secondary exposure.

The latency period for asbestos-related diseases — mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, and pleural disease — ranges from roughly ten to fifty years between initial exposure and diagnosis. Workers exposed through Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps during the 1940s through the early 1980s may only now be receiving diagnoses tied to that occupational history.

The current trust-fund and litigation status for products in the Spirax Sarco catalog is summarized on the manufacturer reference page linked at the top of this article. Where a Section 524(g) trust exists, claims may be filed in parallel with civil litigation against other defendants whose products contributed to the same exposure history. Where no trust exists, claims are pursued through the civil court system. Statute-of-limitations rules vary by state and disease type; the limitations clock generally begins at the time of diagnosis rather than the time of exposure.

Individuals who worked with or around Spirax Sarco float and thermostatic steam traps and have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease should preserve documentation of employment history, jobsites, and product identification, and consult an attorney experienced in asbestos claims promptly after diagnosis.