Factory workers were exposed to asbestos in two ways: some plants used it, and some plants made it. In an ordinary factory, asbestos wrapped the steam lines, boilers, ovens, and presses that kept production running, and it released dust whenever maintenance crews opened that equipment. In plants that manufactured asbestos products, raw fiber was part of the daily work. The National Cancer Institute lists the manufacturing of asbestos textiles and other asbestos products among occupations with recognized health hazards, and it identifies asbestos exposure as the primary cause of mesothelioma, a cancer that often appears decades after exposure (NCI asbestos fact sheet).
Pennsylvania Asbestos Manufacturing Plants: Ambler and Lancaster
Pennsylvania had a significant asbestos manufacturing industry of its own. Keasbey & Mattison operated one of the country’s major asbestos-product plants in Ambler, Montgomery County, and the waste piles it left behind later became an EPA Superfund site, covered on our Ambler asbestos site page. Armstrong’s flooring operations in Lancaster used asbestos in vinyl floor products for years, a history covered on our Armstrong Lancaster page. Workers in plants like these handled asbestos as a raw ingredient, often every shift.
Hidden Asbestos Hazards Inside Pennsylvania Factories
Most factory workers never handled raw fiber, but many plants were filled with finished asbestos products, including:
- Insulation on boilers, steam pipes, ovens, dryers, and presses
- Gaskets and packing in pumps, valves, and machine housings
- Asbestos cement wallboard and roofing on factory buildings
- Heat shields, brake linings, and clutches on plant machinery and cranes
Bystander Asbestos Exposure on the Factory Floor
Production workers breathed the dust disturbed by maintenance work. When millwrights stripped insulation from an overhead steam line, the line workers below were exposed as well. This bystander pattern matters legally because a worker need not have handled asbestos directly to be exposed to it.
Annual shutdowns were often the most dangerous weeks. When a plant closed for maintenance, insulation came off equipment across the building at once, and production workers frequently stayed on to help with cleanup, sweeping up the same dust that made the work hazardous.
Pennsylvania Industries Linked to Factory Asbestos Exposure
Beyond asbestos product plants, exposure histories come from across the state’s manufacturing base: locomotive and railcar building, including plants like GE’s Erie Works; aluminum production; glassworks; steam-powered textile mills; and the machine shops found in mill towns throughout the state. Factory work appears in our occupations with asbestos exposure index, and the related pages on steel mill workers and miners cover the heavy industry side of the same history. Employment records from these plants often survive longer than families expect, in pension files, Social Security earnings records, and union archives.
Secondhand Asbestos Exposure From Factory Work Clothes
Factory dust often traveled home on work clothes. The National Cancer Institute notes that family members of exposed workers faced risk from fibers carried home on clothing (NCI). In asbestos manufacturing towns like Ambler, concerns extended beyond individual households, as even a single set of dusty coveralls could bring fibers into a home. Fibers could also settle into car seats and furniture, potentially extending a family’s exposure well beyond the workday.
Mesothelioma Claims for Pennsylvania Factory Workers and Families
A factory worker’s case starts with the plant: what was made there, what equipment ran there, and which insulation and gasket companies supplied it. Decades of asbestos litigation have produced detailed records on many Pennsylvania plants, which can make that research much faster. Many asbestos manufacturers and suppliers establish bankruptcy trusts that hold billions of dollars for injured workers and their families (GAO-11-819), and trust claims often proceed alongside lawsuits.
Pennsylvania sets strict deadlines for filing asbestos claims, and those deadlines can begin running as soon as a diagnosis is made. When a worker has passed away, the family may still be able to pursue wrongful death and survival claims, though these carry time limits of their own. Speaking with an attorney early helps protect your options.
Free Mesothelioma Case Review for Pennsylvania Factory Workers
If your work history includes a Pennsylvania plant and mesothelioma has affected your family, request a free case review. We will start with the factory’s name.