Product Description

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that U.S. Mineral Products Company’s Cafco Blaze-Shield was a spray-applied fireproofing product allegedly formulated with a combination of mineral wool fibers, asbestos fiber, and a cementitious binder. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, Cafco Blaze-Shield was allegedly one of the earliest and most widely specified sprayed fireproofing systems in U.S. commercial construction, applied by hopper-fed spray gun to structural steel columns, beams, and metal floor decks.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned spray-applied asbestos fireproofing in 1973 under 40 CFR Part 61. Plaintiffs alleged that Cafco Blaze-Shield containing asbestos was manufactured and sold through the 1973 EPA cutoff, with sprayed material remaining in place inside buildings constructed during that era.

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that the following trades were exposed to Cafco Blaze-Shield sprayed fireproofing:

  • Sprayed fireproofing applicators and hopper-fillers — mixing dry asbestos-containing product at the hopper and inhaling overspray during application
  • Ironworkers — working on structural steel while Blaze-Shield was being sprayed, and cutting or drilling through cured fireproofing
  • Insulators — patching and rework of sprayed fireproofing around penetrations, hangers, and beam-column joints
  • Drywall finishers and carpenters — working beneath sprayed decks during ceiling and partition installation
  • HVAC technicians and building maintenance workers — working above ceilings in plenums where sprayed Blaze-Shield remained on deck undersides
  • Electricians — running conduit through ceiling voids containing sprayed asbestos fireproofing
  • Demolition workers — encountering friable Blaze-Shield during high-rise renovation and tear-down
  • Post-1973 abatement contractors and workers — removing legacy Blaze-Shield in occupied buildings