Asbestos Roof Shingles — United States Gypsum Company

Product Description

United States Gypsum Company (USG) manufactured asbestos-containing roof shingles from approximately 1937 through 1975. During this period, asbestos-reinforced roofing materials were considered a technological improvement over earlier roofing products, offering manufacturers and builders a product marketed for its durability, fire resistance, and weather tolerance. USG, one of the largest building materials companies in the United States, produced these shingles alongside an extensive catalog of other construction products, many of which also incorporated asbestos as a functional component.

Asbestos roof shingles were widely used in both residential and commercial construction throughout the mid-twentieth century. Their relatively low cost and perceived longevity made them a common choice for new construction and re-roofing projects across the country. The shingles were sold under various product lines and distributed through building supply channels to contractors, industrial facilities, and construction projects of all scales.

Production of these asbestos-containing shingles continued until the mid-1970s, a period during which mounting scientific and regulatory evidence prompted manufacturers across the building materials industry to begin reformulating or discontinuing products containing asbestos fibers. USG’s production timeline for these shingles largely aligns with the broader industry-wide transition away from asbestos-containing roofing materials that occurred in response to growing awareness of the health hazards associated with asbestos exposure.

Asbestos Content

USG’s asbestos roof shingles were manufactured using chrysotile asbestos, the most commercially prevalent form of asbestos used in the United States building materials industry during the twentieth century. Chrysotile, sometimes referred to as white asbestos, belongs to the serpentine mineral group and was incorporated into roofing products for its tensile strength, heat resistance, and binding properties.

In asbestos-cement roofing shingles — the predominant format for this type of product — chrysotile fibers were mixed with portland cement and other materials to form a composite matrix. The asbestos fibers served as reinforcement within this matrix, improving the structural integrity of the finished shingle and contributing to its fire-resistant characteristics. The asbestos content in such products typically represented a substantial percentage of the finished material by weight, meaning that a significant volume of chrysotile fiber was present in each shingle unit.

Although chrysotile has sometimes been characterized differently from amphibole asbestos varieties in certain industry and legal contexts, regulatory agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have consistently treated chrysotile as a known human carcinogen subject to the same hazard communication and exposure control requirements as other asbestos fiber types. The EPA’s Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) regulations specifically govern the management and abatement of chrysotile-containing building materials, including roofing products, in school and commercial structures.

How Workers Were Exposed

Workers exposed to USG’s asbestos roof shingles were primarily classified within the broader category of industrial workers, though the nature of exposure varied depending on job function and work environment. Asbestos fiber release from roof shingles occurs most significantly when the material is cut, broken, abraded, or disturbed — activities that were routine in both manufacturing and installation contexts.

Manufacturing workers at USG production facilities where asbestos shingles were made faced exposure at multiple points in the production process. Raw chrysotile fibers were handled, mixed, and processed in industrial settings where airborne fiber concentrations could be substantial, particularly in eras predating modern industrial hygiene controls and respiratory protection standards. Workers who mixed asbestos slurries, operated forming machinery, handled green (uncured) product, or worked in areas where dry asbestos dust was present were among those at elevated risk.

Roofing and construction workers who installed, cut, or removed these shingles were exposed during field operations. Cutting shingles to fit roof configurations using hand saws, power saws, or scoring tools generated respirable asbestos dust at the point of cut. Nailing, breaking, and stacking shingles also created opportunities for fiber release. Workers engaged in the removal of old asbestos shingle roofing — either during re-roofing projects or demolition — faced exposure to friable or mechanically disrupted material.

Maintenance and renovation workers at industrial facilities with asbestos shingle roofing were similarly at risk when roofing systems required repair or partial replacement. In many industrial settings, roofing maintenance tasks were performed without the benefit of respiratory protection or hazard awareness that later regulatory frameworks would require.

OSHA’s current permissible exposure limit (PEL) for asbestos is 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with an excursion limit of 1.0 f/cc averaged over a thirty-minute period. These standards were not in place during the primary production and installation years of these shingles, meaning that workers active from the late 1930s through the 1970s operated without enforceable exposure limits or mandated engineering controls.

Documented Trust Fund / Legal Options

United States Gypsum Company does not maintain a dedicated asbestos bankruptcy trust fund specifically for claims related to its roofing products. USG has remained a solvent operating company and has addressed asbestos liability through ongoing civil litigation rather than through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and trust establishment process used by many other asbestos product manufacturers.

Litigation records document that individuals diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis, have brought claims against United States Gypsum Company in connection with exposure to its asbestos-containing products. Plaintiffs alleged that USG had knowledge of the hazards associated with asbestos-containing building materials and failed to adequately warn workers or the public of those risks during the decades of manufacture and sale.

Plaintiffs alleged in filed actions that exposure to chrysotile asbestos from USG roofing and related building products was a contributing cause of diagnosed malignancies and pulmonary disease. Litigation records document claims brought by former manufacturing workers, construction tradespeople, and industrial workers, as well as by the estates of deceased individuals whose occupational histories included contact with USG asbestos products.

Individuals who were employed in roles involving the manufacture, installation, removal, or maintenance of asbestos roof shingles produced by USG and who have since received a diagnosis of an asbestos-related condition may have legal options that include:

  • Direct civil litigation against USG and potentially other product manufacturers in the chain of distribution
  • Claims against other applicable trust funds if the individual’s exposure history also includes products from manufacturers who have established asbestos bankruptcy trusts
  • Workers’ compensation claims, depending on jurisdiction and applicable statute of limitations

Anyone with a potential claim involving USG asbestos roof shingles or other asbestos-containing building products should consult a qualified asbestos litigation attorney to evaluate their specific exposure history, diagnosis, and applicable legal deadlines. Statutes of limitations for asbestos disease claims vary by state and are generally measured from the date of diagnosis rather than the date of exposure.