DeZurik: Asbestos Product History and Occupational Exposure Reference

Company History

DeZurik is an American manufacturer of industrial valves and flow control equipment that has operated for decades serving heavy industry, municipal water treatment, chemical processing, and power generation markets. Headquartered in the United States, the company built a reputation for producing durable butterfly valves, plug valves, and related flow control components used across a wide range of industrial infrastructure.

Like many industrial manufacturers active during the mid-twentieth century, DeZurik operated during an era when asbestos was a standard engineering material in valve and steam system components. Asbestos offered properties that made it particularly attractive to valve manufacturers: it was heat-resistant, chemically stable, compressible for sealing applications, and inexpensive. These characteristics made it a go-to material for packing, gaskets, and other components designed to contain high-temperature steam, corrosive fluids, and pressurized process gases.

DeZurik’s products were specified and installed across American industry from the mid-twentieth century through approximately the early 1980s, when the company — in line with broader industry trends and increasing regulatory pressure — moved away from asbestos-containing materials. During that window of several decades, however, DeZurik valves and related components containing asbestos were installed throughout power plants, refineries, chemical facilities, shipyards, and industrial manufacturing operations nationwide.

Asbestos-Containing Products

According to asbestos litigation records, DeZurik manufactured and distributed valves and related flow control equipment that contained asbestos-based materials in certain component parts. Court filings document allegations that asbestos-containing packing materials and gaskets were incorporated into DeZurik valve assemblies during the company’s production period spanning several decades of the twentieth century.

Valve packing is among the most commonly identified asbestos-containing components in industrial valve history. Packing material is compressed into a stuffing box around a valve stem to prevent process fluid or steam from leaking out of the valve body during operation. During the period when asbestos packing was standard industry practice, this material could contain chrysotile or other asbestos fiber types at significant concentrations. Plaintiffs alleged that DeZurik valves were supplied with or designed to accept asbestos-based stem packing during this era.

Gasket materials represent a second category identified in asbestos litigation records involving DeZurik products. Industrial gaskets made from compressed asbestos sheet — sometimes referred to as compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) or by trade names common at the time — were used at flange connections, bonnet joints, and other sealing surfaces in valve assemblies. Court filings document that such materials were associated with DeZurik valve products sold and installed through the early 1980s.

It is important to note that the asbestos-containing components in many valve assemblies of this era were not always manufactured exclusively by the valve maker. In some instances, asbestos packing and gasket materials were supplied by third-party manufacturers and specified for use with particular valve lines. Nonetheless, plaintiffs alleged that manufacturers including DeZurik, as the assembler and marketer of finished valve products, bore responsibility for the presence and hazard of these materials in their equipment.

Replacement and maintenance cycles are a critical factor in understanding exposure from DeZurik valves. Valve packing in industrial service is a consumable material — it degrades over time under heat, pressure, and chemical exposure, requiring periodic removal and repacking. Each repacking operation, and each removal of old asbestos packing, represented a potential asbestos exposure event for the workers performing the task.

Occupational Exposure

Workers across multiple trades came into contact with DeZurik valves and related components during the decades when asbestos-containing packing and gaskets were in use. Asbestos litigation records identify several occupational categories as having documented or alleged exposure to asbestos from valve maintenance, installation, and surrounding work:

Pipefitters and Steamfitters worked directly with valve assemblies in power plants, industrial facilities, and process piping systems. Installing new valves, repacking valve stems, and cutting replacement gaskets from sheet asbestos were routine tasks that could generate respirable asbestos dust.

Boiler Operators and Power Plant Workers operated and maintained large steam systems where industrial valves controlled the flow of high-pressure steam throughout generating facilities. The steam system environment — involving repeated heat cycling and high pressures — meant valve packing required frequent replacement.

Refinery and Chemical Plant Workers encountered DeZurik valves in process piping carrying corrosive fluids, solvents, and high-temperature streams. Gasket removal and replacement in these settings could disturb aged, friable asbestos-containing material.

Millwrights and Industrial Maintenance Mechanics performed general maintenance across industrial facilities, including valve maintenance tasks that could bring them into contact with asbestos valve components.

Shipyard Workers encountered industrial valves throughout the steam and process systems aboard naval and commercial vessels. Court filings document allegations involving valve-related asbestos exposure in shipyard environments generally, and DeZurik products were among those specified for shipboard applications.

Plumbers and Industrial Construction Workers installed valve assemblies during original plant construction or major renovation projects, cutting gaskets, running packing, and working in close proximity to others performing these same tasks.

A critical and often overlooked dimension of valve-related asbestos exposure is the bystander or secondary exposure category. Workers whose primary tasks did not involve valves directly — insulators working nearby, laborers cleaning up work areas, workers in adjacent trades — could nonetheless inhale asbestos dust generated by valve maintenance work in the same spaces.

Asbestos fibers released during valve packing removal or gasket cutting are respirable — small enough to reach the deepest lung tissue — and are associated with asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. These diseases typically have latency periods of 20 to 50 years, meaning workers exposed to asbestos-containing valve components in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s may only be receiving diagnoses today.

DeZurik is classified under Tier 2 for purposes of this reference: the company has been named in asbestos personal injury litigation and court filings document allegations of asbestos-related harm connected to its products, but DeZurik has not established an asbestos bankruptcy trust fund as of the time of this writing. This means that legal claims against DeZurik, if pursued, would be handled through conventional civil litigation rather than through a trust fund claims process.

According to asbestos litigation records, plaintiffs have alleged that DeZurik valves and related components exposed workers to asbestos fibers during installation, routine maintenance, and repacking operations conducted across industrial worksites throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Court filings document these allegations in the context of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease claims. Whether and to what extent DeZurik has resolved, contested, or continues to litigate such claims varies by jurisdiction and specific case history.

Because asbestos valve products were manufactured and distributed as part of a broader industrial supply chain, injured workers and their families should be aware that asbestos claims frequently involve multiple defendants. In a single industrial exposure setting, a worker may have encountered asbestos-containing products from valve manufacturers, insulation manufacturers, gasket suppliers, and other companies — many of which have established asbestos bankruptcy trusts. A thorough exposure history may reveal eligibility for compensation from multiple sources, including trust fund claims against bankrupt asbestos defendants, even when the primary claim involves a non-bankrupt company like DeZurik.

Workers who were diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer after working in power plants, refineries, chemical facilities, shipyards, or other industrial environments where DeZurik valves were installed and maintained should consider consulting an attorney with experience in asbestos litigation. Attorneys handling these cases typically conduct detailed occupational histories to identify all potential sources of exposure and all available avenues of compensation.

Plain-Language Summary

DeZurik manufactured industrial valves used across American heavy industry for decades during the mid-twentieth century. According to asbestos litigation records, those valves contained asbestos-based packing and gasket materials through approximately the early 1980s. Workers who installed, repacked, or maintained these valves — and in some cases workers nearby — may have been exposed to asbestos fibers capable of causing serious lung disease.

DeZurik does not have an asbestos bankruptcy trust fund. Claims connected to DeZurik products are pursued through civil litigation. However, many workers exposed to DeZurik valves were also exposed to asbestos from other manufacturers that do have active trust funds, and compensation from those trusts may be available alongside or independent of litigation involving DeZurik.

If you or a family member worked with industrial valves and has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, an experienced asbestos attorney can review your work history, identify all potential sources of exposure, and advise you on the full range of legal options available.