Narmag 60 DBRC Metal Firebrick

Product Description

Narmag 60 DBRC was a metal firebrick manufactured by Keene Corporation, a company whose industrial product lines spanned multiple decades of the twentieth century. As a refractory product, the Narmag 60 DBRC was engineered to withstand extreme heat conditions in industrial environments, making it suitable for use in furnaces, kilns, boilers, and other high-temperature applications where conventional building materials would fail. Metal firebricks of this class were widely used in heavy industrial settings, including steel mills, foundries, power generation facilities, chemical plants, and manufacturing operations that relied on sustained high-heat processes.

Keene Corporation operated across a broad range of product categories during its years of industrial manufacturing. The company’s portfolio included materials associated with floor tile, pipe insulation, refractory products, spray fireproofing applications, and valves and steam traps — product lines that reflected the industrial demands of the mid-twentieth century, when asbestos was widely incorporated into heat-resistant and fire-resistant materials as a matter of standard practice. The Narmag 60 DBRC fits within Keene’s refractory product category, designed for the specific demands of metal containment and high-temperature structural applications.

The precise years of production for the Narmag 60 DBRC are not fully established in publicly available records. However, the product is consistent with the broader era of asbestos-containing refractory manufacturing that characterized much of the industrial supply chain from the mid-twentieth century through the period when regulatory agencies began imposing restrictions on asbestos use in the 1970s and 1980s.

Asbestos Content

The specific asbestos formulation or percentage content of the Narmag 60 DBRC has not been independently confirmed in publicly available regulatory or product safety documentation reviewed for this article. However, refractory products of this class — metal firebricks designed for extreme thermal resistance — were commonly manufactured during this era with asbestos-containing binders, coatings, or matrix materials. Asbestos fiber types commonly used in refractory applications included chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite, selected for their ability to maintain structural integrity under prolonged exposure to intense heat.

Litigation records document claims that Keene Corporation products, including refractory materials within its product lines, contained asbestos. Plaintiffs alleged that these materials posed a significant inhalation hazard to workers who handled, installed, maintained, or worked in proximity to them throughout the product’s service life. In the context of industrial refractory products, asbestos fibers could be released during cutting, shaping, installation, repair, and removal — activities that were routine in the industries where metal firebricks were deployed.

Regulatory attention to asbestos in refractory materials intensified following the establishment of occupational exposure standards by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the identification of asbestos as a hazardous material under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) and related federal frameworks. These regulatory developments helped establish the scientific and legal record that plaintiffs have relied upon in litigation involving products like the Narmag 60 DBRC.

How Workers Were Exposed

Industrial workers represented the primary population at risk of asbestos exposure from the Narmag 60 DBRC. The nature of metal firebrick use meant that exposure could occur across multiple stages of a product’s lifecycle — from initial installation in furnace or boiler construction, through regular maintenance and inspection cycles, to eventual demolition or replacement during industrial shutdowns or facility renovations.

Workers involved in the installation of refractory linings would have been required to cut, shape, and fit metal firebrick units to conform to the geometry of furnaces, kilns, and other high-heat chambers. These cutting and fitting operations, performed with hand tools or powered saws, had the potential to generate airborne dust containing asbestos fibers. In enclosed or poorly ventilated industrial spaces, such dust could accumulate at concentrations that exceeded safe exposure thresholds.

Maintenance workers and boilermakers who regularly entered furnace chambers or worked near refractory linings faced ongoing exposure risk, particularly when aging or damaged firebrick was disturbed. Thermal cycling — the repeated heating and cooling of refractory materials in normal industrial operation — can cause physical degradation of firebrick surfaces over time, releasing fibers into the ambient environment. Workers who swept, vacuumed, or otherwise cleaned these areas without appropriate respiratory protection may have inhaled fibers dislodged from deteriorating refractory material.

Demolition and removal activities carried some of the highest exposure potential. Workers tasked with breaking out worn or damaged refractory linings — a physically intensive process involving hammers, chisels, and pneumatic tools — could generate substantial quantities of airborne particulate matter. Litigation records document that industrial workers across trades, including those in steel production, chemical processing, and power generation, alleged significant asbestos exposure during such activities involving Keene Corporation refractory products.

Bystander exposure was also a documented concern. Workers in adjacent areas of a facility who were not directly handling firebrick could nonetheless inhale fibers carried through shared air systems or distributed through normal movement in the work environment.

Because the Narmag 60 DBRC is classified as a Tier 2 litigated product, legal remedies for exposed individuals are pursued through the civil court system rather than through an established asbestos bankruptcy trust fund. Keene Corporation faced extensive asbestos litigation over the course of several decades, with plaintiffs alleging that the company manufactured, distributed, and sold asbestos-containing products without adequate warnings of the associated health hazards.

Litigation records document that Keene Corporation was named as a defendant in a substantial volume of asbestos personal injury and wrongful death cases filed by industrial workers and their families. Plaintiffs alleged that exposure to Keene products, including refractory materials, caused serious asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural disease, and lung cancer. These conditions typically have long latency periods, meaning that workers exposed decades ago may only now be receiving diagnoses.

Individuals who worked with or near the Narmag 60 DBRC and have received an asbestos-related diagnosis may have legal standing to pursue compensation through civil litigation. To evaluate a potential claim, an experienced asbestos attorney will typically examine employment history, product identification records, medical documentation, and evidence linking specific product exposure to a diagnosed condition.

Additionally, because Keene Corporation’s product lines overlapped with manufacturers and distributors who later established asbestos bankruptcy trusts, exposed workers may have claims against multiple parties — some of whom may be represented by active trust funds. A qualified asbestos attorney can conduct a comprehensive exposure analysis to identify all potentially liable parties and available compensation pathways.

Workers and surviving family members seeking to understand their legal options should consult with an attorney who specializes in asbestos litigation, as statutes of limitations vary by state and may affect the viability of a claim depending on the date of diagnosis or date of knowledge of asbestos-related disease.