Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture / Gold Bond Spray Quick / Gold Bond Plasticrylic

Product Description

Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture, Gold Bond Spray Quick, and Gold Bond Plasticrylic were a line of spray-applied texture and fireproofing products manufactured by National Gypsum Company under its well-known Gold Bond brand. Produced from approximately 1959 through 1981, these products were designed for use in commercial, industrial, and institutional construction settings where fast application and fire-resistant finishes were priorities.

National Gypsum Company was one of the largest gypsum and building materials manufacturers in the United States throughout the mid-twentieth century. The Gold Bond brand encompassed a wide range of gypsum-based construction materials, and the spray texture and fireproofing lines were among the company’s most commercially distributed products during the postwar construction boom. These materials were sold and distributed nationally, reaching job sites across the country during decades when asbestos-containing building products were standard in the industry.

Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture was formulated for interior ceiling and wall finishing applications, providing decorative texture while also offering some degree of fire resistance. Gold Bond Spray Quick was similarly positioned as a rapid-application spray product suitable for large surface areas in commercial construction. Gold Bond Plasticrylic was marketed as a spray-applied material combining plastic and acrylic-type binding agents with mineral components, used in various finishing and protective coating applications. All three products, while differing in their precise formulations and intended end uses, shared the common characteristic of containing chrysotile asbestos as a functional ingredient during a substantial portion of their production history.

Asbestos Content

Litigation records document that Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture, Gold Bond Spray Quick, and Gold Bond Plasticrylic contained chrysotile asbestos during their years of manufacture. Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, is a serpentine-form asbestos mineral that was the most widely used variety in American building products throughout the twentieth century. Manufacturers favored chrysotile for its flexibility, tensile strength, heat resistance, and binding properties — characteristics that made it particularly well-suited for spray-applied products that required structural cohesion and fire resistance once applied and cured.

In spray texture and fireproofing applications, chrysotile asbestos served multiple functions. It strengthened the sprayed matrix, improved adhesion to substrates, and contributed to the fire-retardant properties that made these products attractive to builders seeking compliance with fire codes in commercial and industrial construction. Plaintiffs alleged that National Gypsum Company was aware of the health hazards associated with asbestos-containing products during the period these products were manufactured and that the company failed to provide adequate warnings to workers who used or encountered them.

The use of asbestos in these products ended as federal regulatory action intensified. The Environmental Protection Agency’s 1973 regulations under the Clean Air Act began restricting friable asbestos-containing spray materials used in building construction, and subsequent actions by the EPA, OSHA, and other federal agencies led to the phase-out of asbestos in such products by the early 1980s. The AHERA (Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act) regulatory framework later established standards for identifying and managing asbestos-containing building materials, categories into which these Gold Bond products fall when encountered during renovation or demolition.

How Workers Were Exposed

Workers who mixed, applied, finished, or worked near Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture, Gold Bond Spray Quick, and Gold Bond Plasticrylic faced significant potential exposure to airborne chrysotile asbestos fibers. Litigation records document that the spray application process was a particularly hazardous phase of product use, as the pressurized spraying of dry or reconstituted asbestos-containing material generated substantial clouds of fine particulate matter. In enclosed or poorly ventilated commercial and industrial spaces, these fibers could remain airborne for extended periods and be inhaled by anyone present in or near the work area.

Industrial workers generally represented a broad category of individuals who encountered these products. This included workers involved in the spray application itself — operating spray equipment and directing the material onto ceilings, structural steel, and wall surfaces — as well as workers in adjacent trades who were present on the same job sites. Painters, electricians, plumbers, ironworkers, carpenters, and general laborers working in the vicinity of spray operations were documented as potentially exposed, even when they had no direct involvement with the Gold Bond products themselves.

The dry mixing of these products before application posed additional risks. Workers who opened bags of powdered spray material, emptied them into mixing equipment, or cleaned up dried residue generated concentrated dust that could contain high levels of asbestos fibers. Plaintiffs alleged that National Gypsum Company failed to warn workers about the presence of asbestos in these products or the respiratory hazards created during their use.

Exposure did not always end when the spray application was complete. Once applied, spray texture and fireproofing materials remained on surfaces for the life of the building. Workers involved in subsequent renovation, repair, or demolition activities — sometimes decades after the original application — could disturb dried asbestos-containing material and release fibers into the air. OSHA regulations now govern the handling of such materials during building work, requiring identification of asbestos-containing materials prior to disturbance and implementation of engineering controls and personal protective equipment during any work that may disturb them.

Documented Trust Fund / Legal Options

National Gypsum Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1990, a reorganization proceeding driven in substantial part by the volume of asbestos personal injury litigation the company faced. However, unlike some other major asbestos defendants, National Gypsum did not establish a Section 524(g) asbestos trust fund that continues to process claims from exposed workers and their families. As a result, Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture, Gold Bond Spray Quick, and Gold Bond Plasticrylic are classified as Tier 2 products for purposes of legal remedy — meaning that claims related to these products have been pursued through civil litigation rather than through an administrative trust fund process.

Litigation records document that plaintiffs who alleged asbestos-related illness from exposure to National Gypsum’s Gold Bond spray products pursued claims in state and federal courts. Plaintiffs alleged causes of action including negligence, strict product liability, and failure to warn, asserting that National Gypsum knew or should have known of the hazards posed by asbestos-containing products and failed to adequately protect or inform workers.

Individuals who were exposed to Gold Bond E-Z Spray Texture, Gold Bond Spray Quick, or Gold Bond Plasticrylic and who have developed an asbestos-related disease — including mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or pleural disease — should consult with an attorney experienced in asbestos litigation. Because National Gypsum does not maintain an active asbestos trust fund, legal options and available remedies depend on the specific facts of each case, applicable statutes of limitations by jurisdiction, and the existence of other potentially liable parties in the chain of distribution or use. An asbestos attorney can evaluate whether other manufacturers, suppliers, or contractors involved in a claimant’s exposure history may offer additional avenues for recovery.