CC Navy Sealer

Product Description

CC Navy Sealer was an industrial sealing compound manufactured by Armstrong World Industries between 1942 and 1962. The product was designed for use in heavy industrial and marine applications, where reliable sealing performance under demanding conditions — including elevated temperatures, pressure fluctuations, and exposure to fluids — was a primary requirement. The “Navy” designation in the product name reflects its intended suitability for naval and shipyard environments, where robust sealing materials were essential to the safe operation of piping systems, valves, and mechanical assemblies aboard vessels and in shore-based industrial facilities.

Armstrong World Industries was one of the largest manufacturers of flooring, ceiling, and industrial products in the United States throughout the twentieth century. The company produced a broad range of asbestos-containing materials during the mid-century period, when asbestos was widely incorporated into industrial products for its heat resistance, tensile strength, and chemical durability. CC Navy Sealer was one of several gasket and packing products in Armstrong’s industrial catalog during the years of its production.

The product falls within the gaskets and packing category — a broad class of sealing materials used throughout industrial settings to prevent leakage at joints, flanges, pipe connections, and mechanical interfaces. Products in this category were typically handled frequently during installation, maintenance, and replacement cycles, making the tradespeople and industrial workers who used them a population with repeated and prolonged potential exposure.

Asbestos Content

CC Navy Sealer contained chrysotile asbestos, the most commonly used form of asbestos in commercial and industrial products throughout the twentieth century. Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, is a serpentine mineral fiber prized historically for its flexibility, heat tolerance, and resistance to chemical degradation — properties that made it well suited for sealing compounds intended to withstand industrial service conditions.

In gasket and packing applications, chrysotile fibers were typically combined with binders and fillers to create a material that could be compressed, cut, and shaped to fit specific sealing applications. The asbestos content provided structural integrity under mechanical stress and thermal cycling, helping the product maintain its seal over time. Armstrong’s incorporation of chrysotile into CC Navy Sealer during the 1942–1962 production period was consistent with standard industry practice of the era, when the health hazards associated with asbestos fiber inhalation were not publicly disclosed to workers or consumers despite internal industry awareness.

Regulatory frameworks that would later govern asbestos use — including OSHA’s asbestos standards and the EPA’s Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) — did not exist during the years CC Navy Sealer was manufactured and distributed. Workers who handled the product during those decades did so without the benefit of hazard warnings, respiratory protection requirements, or exposure limits.

How Workers Were Exposed

The primary population documented as having been exposed to CC Navy Sealer consists of industrial workers generally — including those employed in manufacturing plants, shipyards, power generation facilities, refineries, and other heavy industrial environments where gasket and packing materials were routinely used.

Asbestos fiber release from gasket and packing products occurs most significantly during cutting, trimming, grinding, and removal operations. When workers cut sheet gasket material to fit a specific flange or joint, the mechanical action of tools against the asbestos-containing compound generates airborne dust containing respirable fibers. Chrysotile fibers, once airborne, can remain suspended in workplace air for extended periods and be inhaled by workers in the immediate vicinity as well as those nearby.

Removal of old or deteriorated gaskets and packing materials presents a comparable hazard. When workers broke the seal on flanged connections, scraped residual gasket material from mating surfaces, or pulled worn packing from valve stems and pump housings, the friable condition of aged asbestos-containing compounds increased the likelihood of fiber release. In enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces — conditions common aboard ships and in industrial boiler rooms — airborne fiber concentrations could accumulate without adequate dissipation.

Workers who used CC Navy Sealer in naval or shipyard contexts faced additional exposure risks associated with the confined spaces typical of marine environments. Pipe fitters, machinists, maintenance mechanics, and general industrial laborers who worked alongside gasket installers — even if not directly handling the product themselves — could experience bystander exposure in shared workspaces.

Because the product was manufactured over a twenty-year span from 1942 through 1962, workers who installed or maintained equipment sealed with CC Navy Sealer may have continued to encounter the product during maintenance and overhaul work for decades after production ceased, as original installations remained in service.

Documented Trust Fund / Legal Options

CC Navy Sealer is classified as a Tier 2 — Litigated product. No dedicated asbestos bankruptcy trust fund has been established specifically to compensate individuals exposed to this product. Armstrong World Industries did establish an asbestos trust following its bankruptcy proceedings — the Armstrong World Industries Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust — which addresses claims related to certain Armstrong products. Individuals seeking compensation in connection with CC Navy Sealer exposure should consult qualified asbestos litigation counsel to evaluate whether claims against this trust or other legal avenues may apply to their specific circumstances.

Litigation records document claims brought by industrial workers and their surviving family members alleging that exposure to asbestos-containing products manufactured and sold by Armstrong World Industries, including gasket and sealing compounds, caused serious respiratory disease. Plaintiffs alleged that Armstrong World Industries knew or should have known of the health hazards associated with chrysotile asbestos exposure and failed to provide adequate warnings to workers who used its products. Plaintiffs further alleged that this failure to warn constituted negligence and that the manufacture and sale of asbestos-containing products without adequate hazard communication gave rise to liability for resulting injuries.

Diseases associated with occupational asbestos exposure that form the basis of asbestos personal injury claims include mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease. Mesothelioma — a rare and aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart — is considered a signature asbestos disease, as the vast majority of diagnosed cases are attributable to asbestos exposure.

Industrial workers, shipyard workers, and others who worked with or around CC Navy Sealer during its production years of 1942 through 1962, or who encountered the product during subsequent maintenance work, and who have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, may have legal remedies available. Because statutes of limitations govern the filing period for asbestos personal injury and wrongful death claims, prompt consultation with an attorney experienced in asbestos litigation is strongly advised. An experienced attorney can evaluate the full exposure history, identify all potentially responsible parties, and determine the appropriate legal strategy — including civil litigation or trust fund claims — for a given claimant’s situation.