Much of asbestos litigation turns on what companies knew and when they knew it. This category collects the terms that describe how the industry mined, milled, and used asbestos, and how it handled the dangers along the way.
Some terms go to the heart of a claim. Corporate knowledge and industry knowledge refer to what manufacturers understood about the risks, often years before workers were warned. Controlled use was the industry's argument that asbestos could be handled safely, while industrial hygiene and dust control describe the measures that were, or weren't, put in place. Cross-company correspondence is the paper trail that sometimes shows what was said behind closed doors.
You'll also find the specific practices and products that recur in these cases, from carding and cobbing in textile plants to the Micronite filter once used in Kent cigarettes. Names like Leroy Gardner, Gerrit Schepers, and Arthur Vorwald appear because their research shaped what the industry knew.
Every term below links to a full plain-language definition.
Terms in this category
- Acid Filter NicheAn acid filter niche refers to the specialized industrial use of acid-resistant asbestos products (primarily …
- Acid-Resistant Chemical FilterAn acid-resistant chemical filter is an industrial filtration device designed to separate solids from highly …
- Acid-resistant packingAcid-resistant packing is a type of industrial sealing material (typically braided rope, sheet gasket, or mol…
- Asbestos Textile IndustryThe asbestos textile industry spun and wove asbestos fibers into yarn, cloth, tape, rope, and protective clot…
- CardingCarding is a textile manufacturing step in which raw fibers are combed and aligned by passing them between ro…
- Chlor-Alkali IndustryThe chlor-alkali industry produces chlorine and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) by passing electricity throug…
- CobbingCobbing is the manual process of breaking apart raw asbestos ore with hammers, picks, or hand tools to separa…
- Controlled Use"Controlled use" is the asbestos industry's long-standing argument that asbestos can be handled safely if wor…
- Corporate KnowledgeCorporate knowledge refers to what asbestos companies knew, and when they knew it, about the health dangers o…
- Cottrell-Type Electric PrecipitatorA Cottrell-type electric precipitator is an industrial air-cleaning device that uses a high-voltage electric …
- Cross-Company CorrespondenceCross-company correspondence refers to letters, memos, telegrams, and other written communications exchanged …
- Dust ControlDust control refers to the engineering measures, work practices, and protective equipment intended to reduce …
- Dust-Free Milling PlantA "dust-free" milling plant was an asbestos mill, most famously promoted by Johns-Manville and other producer…
- Exfoliation PlantAn exfoliation plant is an industrial facility that heated raw vermiculite ore in furnaces to make it pop and…
- Filter padA filter pad is a disc or sheet of porous material, historically made with asbestos fibers, used to clarify, …
- Hand-cobbed fiberHand-cobbed fiber is asbestos that has been separated from its host rock by workers using hand tools (typical…
- Industrial HygieneIndustrial hygiene is the professional practice of recognizing, measuring, and controlling health hazards in …
- Kent cigarettesKent cigarettes were a brand sold by Lorillard Tobacco Company that, from 1952 to 1956, used a filter called …
- Leroy GardnerDr. Leroy U. Gardner was an American industrial pathologist who directed the Saranac Laboratory from 1927 to …
- Mechanical beatingMechanical beating is an industrial process in which raw asbestos fiber bundles are physically pounded, agita…
- Micronite filterThe Micronite filter was a cigarette filter used in Kent brand cigarettes from 1952 to 1956 that contained cr…
- Sabourin, IvanIvan Sabourin was a Canadian lawyer and longtime corporate secretary and legal counsel for the Canadian Johns…
- Schepers, GerritGerrit W. H. Schepers (1913–2008) was a South African–born pathologist who became one of the earliest scienti…
- Tributer SystemThe tributer system was a labor arrangement used in some asbestos and other mineral mines in which small team…
- Vorwald, ArthurDr. Arthur J. Vorwald (1905–1974) was an American pathologist who directed the Saranac Laboratory in New York…
Terms in this category
Browse the full Lexicon, or talk it through with a member of our litigation team, not a screener, at 833-4-ASBESTOS.