Armstrong Accobest Gasketing Material

Product Description

Armstrong Accobest Gasketing Material was an industrial sealing product manufactured by Armstrong World Industries during a four-year production window spanning 1963 through 1967. Armstrong World Industries, headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was one of the largest flooring and specialty building materials manufacturers in the United States throughout much of the twentieth century. The company’s industrial product lines extended well beyond floor coverings to include a range of mechanical and industrial sealing materials designed for high-temperature and high-pressure applications.

The Accobest line was positioned within Armstrong’s industrial catalog as a compressed sheet gasketing material intended for use in environments where reliable sealing performance under mechanical stress was required. Gasketing materials of this class were commonly used across manufacturing plants, refineries, chemical processing facilities, power generation stations, and other heavy industrial settings. Workers in these environments relied on sheet gasketing to create leak-proof seals between flanged pipe connections, valve bodies, pump housings, heat exchangers, and pressure vessels.

Sheet gasketing products like Accobest were typically supplied in flat sheets or rolls from which workers or machinists would cut individual gaskets to the dimensions required for a particular fitting or joint. This cutting and fitting process was a routine part of maintenance and installation work throughout the industries that relied on such materials.

Asbestos Content

Armstrong Accobest Gasketing Material was manufactured with chrysotile asbestos as a principal component of its composition. Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, is the most commercially prevalent form of asbestos and belongs to the serpentine mineral family. It was widely used in compressed sheet gasketing and packing products throughout the mid-twentieth century because of its heat resistance, tensile strength, and chemical compatibility with the fluids and gases that industrial seals were required to contain.

In compressed sheet gasket construction, chrysotile fibers were typically combined with binders, rubber compounds, or other filler materials and subjected to a compression process that produced a dense, relatively uniform sheet. The resulting material could withstand elevated temperatures and mechanical loading while maintaining a conformable seal at flange surfaces. Chrysotile’s fiber structure made it well suited to this manufacturing method, as the fibers provided mechanical reinforcement throughout the compressed matrix.

The presence of chrysotile asbestos in Accobest material placed it within a broad category of industrial sealing products that were later identified as occupational health hazards. Regulatory frameworks that emerged in subsequent decades, including standards developed by OSHA and guidelines established under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), recognized chrysotile asbestos as a known human carcinogen capable of causing mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer following inhalation of respirable fibers.

How Workers Were Exposed

Industrial workers who handled, cut, installed, or removed Armstrong Accobest Gasketing Material during its production years and in subsequent decades faced potential exposure to airborne chrysotile asbestos fibers. The nature of asbestos-containing sheet gasketing products created several distinct pathways through which fiber release could occur in the workplace.

Cutting and fabrication represented one of the most significant exposure points. Workers assigned to cut gaskets from bulk sheets used hand tools, rotary cutters, die punches, or grinding wheels to produce individual gaskets sized to specific flange dimensions. Each cutting operation had the potential to release asbestos fibers into the breathing zone of the worker performing the cut and of nearby workers sharing the same space.

Installation and fitting activities exposed workers to fibers when gaskets were handled, trimmed, and positioned between flanged surfaces. Older or degraded gasketing material sometimes crumbled or shed fibers during handling, increasing the risk of inhalation during the installation process.

Removal and replacement of spent gaskets presented a particularly hazardous exposure scenario. Compressed sheet gaskets that had been subjected to heat, pressure, and chemical exposure over extended service periods often became brittle and fragmented during removal. Workers using scrapers, wire brushes, and other tools to remove deteriorated gasket material from flange faces generated respirable dust that could contain substantial concentrations of asbestos fibers. This type of maintenance work was performed routinely across the industrial sectors that used Accobest and similar products.

Bystander exposure was also a documented concern in industrial workplaces. Workers in adjacent areas who were not directly handling gasketing material could nonetheless inhale fibers that became airborne during nearby cutting or removal operations, particularly in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces such as engine rooms, boiler areas, and processing facilities.

Industrial workers as a general occupational category were the primary population at risk from Accobest exposure. This included pipefitters, millwrights, boilermakers, machinists, maintenance mechanics, and other tradespeople who worked with flanged piping systems and mechanical equipment requiring gasketed connections.

Armstrong Accobest Gasketing Material falls within the Tier 2 legal classification, meaning that claims related to this product are addressed through civil litigation rather than through a dedicated asbestos bankruptcy trust fund. Armstrong World Industries did file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000, and an asbestos personal injury trust—the Armstrong World Industries Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust—was established as part of that reorganization. However, individuals researching potential claims related specifically to Accobest Gasketing Material should consult with a qualified asbestos attorney to determine whether this product falls within the scope of covered claims under the trust’s criteria or whether litigation against successor entities or other responsible parties represents the appropriate legal avenue.

Litigation records document claims brought by former industrial workers who alleged exposure to asbestos-containing gasketing and packing products manufactured by Armstrong and other industrial suppliers. Plaintiffs alleged that manufacturers of asbestos-containing sheet gasketing knew or should have known of the health hazards associated with their products and failed to provide adequate warnings to workers who would foreseeably encounter those products during routine industrial operations.

Plaintiffs in asbestos gasketing cases have typically pursued claims under theories of negligence, strict product liability, and failure to warn. Litigation records document allegations that workers were not informed of the risks associated with cutting, installing, and removing asbestos-containing gaskets, and that this lack of warning contributed to occupational diseases diagnosed years or decades after the period of exposure.

Individuals who believe they may have been exposed to Armstrong Accobest Gasketing Material and who have received a diagnosis of mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related disease are encouraged to consult with an attorney experienced in asbestos litigation. Medical documentation of diagnosis, work history records, and any documentation connecting the claimant to specific products and work sites are typically important components of building a viable claim. Statutes of limitations vary by jurisdiction and generally begin to run from the date of diagnosis or the date a claimant reasonably should have known of the connection between their disease and asbestos exposure, making timely legal consultation important.