Pipefitters and Asbestos Exposure Risks
If you spent your career as a pipefitter or plumber, you encountered asbestos daily. Pipefitters are among the highest-risk trades for asbestos exposure in the United States. Workers and their families are still receiving mesothelioma diagnoses today.
Daily Asbestos Exposure on the Pipefitter Job
Pipefitters, or steamfitters worked directly with asbestos every day from the 1930s to the early 1980s. Asbestos was the dominant pipe insulation material during that time.
The highest asbestos exposure tasks included cutting pre-formed pipe insulation to length, removing old insulation to reach joints, replacing rope packing and gaskets at flanges and mixing dry insulating cement and grinding or filing fittings. Even short-duration exposure decades ago can lead to disease today.
Pipefitters also faced cross-trade exposure. They often worked with insulators and boilermakers in boiler rooms, ship engine rooms and refinery process areas. This means pipefitters breathe in fibers stirred up by surrounding trades, not just their own work.
Where Pipefitters Worked
Pipefitters often worked at multiple sites, including chemical plants, oil refineries, paper mills and more. Their jobs took them through some of the most asbestos-heavy environments in American industry.
Common Job Sites
- Chemical plants
- Fossil-fuel power plants
- Large commercial buildings
- Military installations
- Oil refineries
- Paper mills
- Steel mills
- U.S. Navy ships and Navy-contracted shipyards
Pipefitters also frequently worked at multiple sites over the course of decades, which can complicate exposure history. Nemeroff Law can identify the worksites that caused your mesothelioma asbestos-related illness by reviewing your work history and identifying the defendants of your case. Despite the long latency period, Nemeroff attorneys can secure your compensation no matter how long ago you were exposed to asbestos.
Asbestos in Pipe Insulation, Gaskets and Sealants
The pipe systems that workers installed and maintained relied on asbestos at nearly all connection points, from the insulation wrapping the pipe itself to the gaskets and sealants at every joint and valve. Many of these products contained 50% or more asbestos content. Every time a pipefitter cut, fit or replaced one of these materials, they released asbestos fibers into the air, causing inhalation of dangerous particles.
Common Pipe Materials
- Asbestos-cement pipe (transite) for water, sewer and ventilation lines
- Asbestos cloth, tape and millboard to wrap fittings and patch insulation
- Asbestos rope, packing and gaskets, including flange seals, valve stem packing and manhole seals
- Insulating cement and joint compound mixed dry and hand-applied at fittings
- Pre-formed pipe lagging and block insulation
- Spray-applied fireproofing on pipe runs and overhead structural steel
Manufacturers whose products appeared regularly in pipefitter work include Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois (Kaylo), Pittsburgh Corning (Unibestos), John Crane, Garlock, Anchor Packing, A.W. Chesterton, Western MacArthur, Quigley and Celotex. Many of these companies later faced bankruptcy proceedings and established asbestos trust funds to pay current and future claims. These trust funds are still accepting claims today.
Pipefitters and Mesothelioma: What the Research Shows
Federal data and peer-reviewed research place pipefitters and plumbers among the highest-risk groups for mesothelioma in the United States. Studies from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consistently show elevated mesothelioma mortality rates in trades with heavy asbestos pipe insulation exposure. Pipefitters rank near the top of that list.
Diseases Linked to Asbestos
- Asbestosis: Chronic scarring of lung tissue from inhaled fibers
- Laryngeal, ovarian and certain gastrointestinal cancers: Linked to asbestos exposure
- Lung cancer: Risk increases substantially for asbestos workers who smoked
- Mesothelioma: A rare and aggressive cancer of the lung, abdominal or heart lining and the signature asbestos disease
- Pleural plaques and pleural thickening: Markers of past exposure that can cause shortness of breath and reduced lung capacity
Asbestos-related diseases don’t appear right away. The latency period is 20 to 60 years between exposure and diagnosis. Many people receiving diagnoses today had their heaviest exposure in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Someone diagnosed with mesothelioma today may have last worked with asbestos 30 to 40 years ago.
People facing a mesothelioma diagnosis often want to understand both their treatment plan and their legal options at the same time. Those aren’t separate conversations. Nemeroff Law handles both sides of that process so families don’t have to navigate it alone.
Pipefitters and Secondhand Asbestos Exposure
Pipefitters may have carried asbestos fibers home on their work clothes, boots, hair, skin, tools, lunch boxes and vehicle interiors. This is known as take-home or secondhand asbestos exposure. It puts family members at real risk.
Highest-Risk Family Members
- Children: Who hugged a parent at the door or rode in the work truck
- Spouses: Who handled, shook out and laundered work clothes before washing them
Steamfitters had a high take-home risk. They worked daily with pipe insulation and joint compound in confined spaces. Many returned home in the same coveralls they wore on the job. Some showered at work before leaving, but many didn’t.
The same asbestos-related diseases that affect pipefitters, including mesothelioma, are possible from take-home exposure. The fibers don’t distinguish between the person who worked with them and the family member who washed their clothes. Spouses and children of pipefitters may have separate, valid claims even if the worker isn’t living. Nemeroff Law Firm represents both pipefitters and their family members on independent claims.
Compensation for Pipefitters and Their Families
Pipefitters and their families have multiple options for compensation, ranging from asbestos trust funds to lawsuits to VA benefits and more. Many people qualify for more than one form of compensation. Nemeroff Law has recovered more than $650 million for people with mesothelioma and their loved ones across more than 3,000 cases.
Types of Compensation
- Asbestos trust funds: Manufacturers that went bankrupt set aside funds to pay current and future claims. Trust fund claims often resolve in 30 to 90 days.
- Personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits: Filed against solvent companies still in business, including pipe and gasket manufacturers, contractors and premises owners.
- VA benefits: Available to veterans, particularly Navy pipefitters and shipyard pipefitters who worked Navy contracts.
- Workers’ compensation: For occupational disease claims tied to past employment.
There’s no upfront cost to get started, and you pay nothing unless we recover compensation. A free case review gives you a clear picture of what claims apply to your situation and what your case may be worth.
Our Pipefitter Case Approach
Our attorneys take a specific approach to pipefitter cases because exposure history is rarely simple. Building a complete picture takes work, and with every unique asbestos case, Nemeroff Law is prepared to secure compensation you qualify for.
Our investigators determine every claim you qualify for. Pipefitters often qualify for many because of the wide range of pipe, gasket and packing manufacturers whose products they handled. We file claims at the same time to ensure you don’t lose value pursuing them one at a time. Nemeroff represents both pipefitters and their family members on independent claims. Getting started consists of a free, no-pressure conversation.
Explore your legal options now with a free case review
Frequently Asked Questions
Pipefitters install and maintain high-pressure piping systems for steam, gas, chemicals and process fluids in industrial settings such as refineries, power plants and ships. Plumbers typically work on lower-pressure water and waste systems in homes and commercial buildings.
Both trades worked with asbestos pipe insulation, gaskets and joint compound for most of the 20th century. Workers in both trades face a high risk for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
Pipefitters install and maintain piping systems that carry steam, water, gas, hydraulic fluid, chemicals and process materials at high pressure. Their work includes:
• Bending and welding pipe
• Cutting and threading pipe
• Installing valves, flanges and gaskets
• Insulating or sealing pipe runs against heat, pressure and leakage
They work in shipyards, refineries, power plants, chemical plants, paper mills and large industrial buildings.
Yes, and at very high levels. Navy ships used asbestos throughout their steam and propulsion systems through the early 1980s. Pipefitters who served onboard or worked in Navy-contracted shipyards, including Brooklyn, Norfolk, Mare Island and Pearl Harbor, typically encountered asbestos daily.
Most pipefitters worked across many employers and locations over a long career. Few have a complete file. Our investigators trace exposure history using employment records, union records, Social Security earnings data and coworker statements. You don’t need a perfect file before contacting us.
Settlement and trust fund values vary widely based on diagnosis, exposure history and the number of manufacturers’ products involved. Most pipefitter clients pursue several claims, including asbestos trust funds, personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits, workers’ compensation and VA benefits for veterans. This approach often stacks recoveries from multiple sources.
D. Carl Money
D. Carl Money is a mesothelioma trial attorney and retired Army Lt. Col. licensed in TX, NY and the UK.