Amatex Corporation: Asbestos Textile Products and Trust Fund Information

Amatex Corporation was a Norristown, Pennsylvania manufacturer that produced woven asbestos textiles for American industry for more than six decades. The company’s products — asbestos cloth, yarn, tape, and fire curtains — were found on industrial jobsites, steel mills, foundries, shipyards, and construction sites across the United States from the 1920s through the early 1980s. Workers who handled or worked near Amatex textile products may have sustained significant asbestos exposure. Amatex Corporation has an active asbestos personal injury trust, the Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust, which was established to compensate eligible claimants.

Company History

Amatex Corporation was founded in 1920 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, a manufacturing hub outside Philadelphia with a long history of textile production. From its earliest years, the company specialized in asbestos-fiber textiles, positioning itself as a supplier to industries that required materials capable of withstanding extreme heat, open flame, and molten metal.

Amatex’s core manufacturing process involved weaving raw chrysotile asbestos fiber — the most commercially abundant form of asbestos — into finished textile products including cloth, yarn, tape, and specialty thermal barriers. Chrysotile, sometimes called white asbestos, was understood within the occupational health and scientific communities by mid-century to pose serious inhalation hazards, particularly when fibers were disturbed, cut, or handled in ways that released airborne dust. Industrial textile manufacturing operations that processed raw chrysotile fiber generated exactly those conditions.

Throughout the post-World War II industrial expansion, Amatex products were distributed to sectors with high demand for heat-resistant materials: steel and iron manufacturing, shipbuilding, power generation, heavy construction, and the automotive trades. The company’s woven asbestos goods became standard materials in applications wherever fire protection, insulation, or thermal management was required.

By the late 1970s, mounting asbestos-related litigation and increasing regulatory scrutiny under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed significant financial pressure on asbestos manufacturers nationwide. Amatex Corporation ceased asbestos use in 1982 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that same year. The bankruptcy reorganization ultimately resulted in the creation of the Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust to address the claims of individuals injured by exposure to the company’s asbestos-containing products.

Asbestos-Containing Products

Amatex Corporation manufactured a defined line of asbestos textile products over its operational history. Each category involved the direct incorporation of chrysotile asbestos fiber into the finished product.

Woven Asbestos Cloth

Amatex produced woven asbestos cloth in multiple weights and weave patterns for industrial applications. This material was sold in rolls and cut to specification at jobsites and fabrication shops. Asbestos cloth was used as heat shields, pipe wrapping, furnace curtains, and welding blankets. Cutting, trimming, or sewing asbestos cloth generated airborne chrysotile fiber. Workers in textile fabrication, insulation contracting, shipyard trades, and industrial maintenance frequently handled Amatex woven cloth.

Asbestos Yarn and Tape

Amatex manufactured spun asbestos yarn, which served as both a standalone product and the raw material for woven cloth and braided tape. Asbestos tape produced from this yarn was widely used to wrap pipe fittings, valve stems, boiler components, and electrical conductors where heat resistance was required. Application of asbestos tape — particularly in tight spaces or overhead positions — disturbed the material and released fiber. Plumbers, pipefitters, boilermakers, electricians, and sheet metal workers were among the trades that regularly applied asbestos tape products.

Fire Curtains and Thermal Barriers

Amatex produced fire curtains and engineered thermal barriers for industrial installations including steel mills, foundries, glass manufacturing facilities, and shipboard compartments. These heavy-duty textile assemblies were hung, positioned, and periodically moved or repaired by workers in the host facilities. Installation, repositioning, and maintenance of fire curtains — particularly aging or deteriorating curtains — created fiber-release conditions. Maintenance workers, riggers, and industrial laborers in facilities using Amatex fire curtains sustained repeated proximity exposure over the course of careers that could span decades.

Occupational Exposure

Asbestos exposure involving Amatex textile products occurred in several distinct worker populations and settings.

Manufacturing and fabrication workers at facilities that processed or cut Amatex asbestos cloth and tape into finished components faced the most intensive exposure. Textile workers who spun yarn, wove cloth, or finished fabric products worked directly with airborne chrysotile fiber as a routine condition of their occupation.

Insulation workers and pipe coverers applied Amatex tape and cloth to piping systems, boilers, and heat-generating equipment throughout industrial and commercial facilities. This application work was often performed in confined spaces with limited ventilation, concentrating airborne fiber.

Shipyard workers — including shipfitters, laggers (insulation applicators), welders, and pipefitters — used asbestos textile products extensively aboard vessels under construction and during repair overhauls. Naval and commercial shipbuilding facilities relied on asbestos cloth and fire curtains to meet fire protection requirements.

Steel and foundry workers were exposed through Amatex fire curtains and thermal barriers deployed as standard equipment in high-heat industrial environments. Maintenance personnel who repaired or replaced these barriers encountered degraded asbestos material.

Construction tradespeople, including electricians, plumbers, and HVAC workers, applied Amatex asbestos tape products during new construction and renovation work in industrial and commercial buildings erected through the 1970s.

Because asbestos-related diseases — including mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, and asbestosis — typically have latency periods of 20 to 50 years between initial exposure and diagnosis, workers exposed to Amatex products during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s may be receiving diagnoses today. Secondary exposure also occurred among family members who laundered the work clothing of employees who carried asbestos fiber home on their garments.

The Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust

Following its 1982 Chapter 11 filing, Amatex Corporation’s asbestos liabilities were resolved through a bankruptcy reorganization that established the Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust. This trust was created specifically to compensate individuals who were harmed by exposure to Amatex asbestos-containing products and who can document that exposure and a qualifying asbestos-related disease.

The trust operates under a Trust Distribution Procedure (TDP), a structured framework that defines eligible disease categories, documentation requirements, and payment levels. Submitting a claim to the Amatex trust does not require filing a lawsuit, though claimants must meet the trust’s evidentiary standards to qualify for payment.

Who May Be Eligible to File a Claim

Individuals who may have a viable claim against the Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust generally include those who:

  • Were diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or another qualifying asbestos disease
  • Have a documented or demonstrable history of occupational exposure to Amatex asbestos products — including woven cloth, yarn, tape, or fire curtains
  • Can show that exposure occurred during the period Amatex manufactured asbestos-containing products (from the company’s founding through 1982)

Family members who experienced secondary household exposure and surviving family members filing on behalf of a deceased loved one may also be eligible, depending on documentation available.

How to File a Trust Claim

Trust claims against the Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust are typically prepared and submitted by an asbestos attorney. The process generally involves:

  1. Medical documentation establishing a qualifying diagnosis, including pathology reports or imaging confirming an asbestos-related disease
  2. Exposure evidence connecting the claimant to Amatex products specifically — this may include employment records, co-worker affidavits, union records, or product identification by a former supervisor or colleague
  3. Claim submission to the trust according to the procedures defined in the TDP, including selection of an expedited or individual review track depending on the strength and value of the claim

Because many claimants have exposure histories spanning multiple employers, worksites, and product manufacturers, an experienced asbestos attorney can identify all applicable trusts and litigation options simultaneously, which may significantly increase total compensation available to a claimant.

Summary

Amatex Corporation manufactured chrysotile asbestos textiles — including woven cloth, yarn, tape, and fire curtains — from 1920 until 1982, when the company ceased asbestos use and filed for bankruptcy. These products were distributed to industrial, shipyard, construction, and manufacturing worksites throughout the United States. Workers in insulation, pipefitting, shipbuilding, steelmaking, and related trades sustained documented asbestos exposure through direct handling of Amatex textile products.

The Amatex Corporation Asbestos Settlement Trust is an active trust fund available to individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, or other qualifying diseases who can demonstrate exposure to Amatex products. Claims do not require litigation, though an attorney familiar with asbestos trust fund procedures can prepare documentation, identify additional claims, and navigate the submission process. If you or a family member was exposed to Amatex asbestos textile products and has received an asbestos-related diagnosis, consulting with an asbestos attorney is the appropriate first step toward understanding your eligibility and options.