Kaylo

Kaylo was a brand of high-temperature calcium silicate thermal insulation made with asbestos, used widely to insulate boilers, turbines, pipes, and other hot industrial equipment from the 1940s into the early 1970s. It was sold as block insulation, pipe covering, and cement, and is one of the most frequently identified asbestos-containing products in mesothelioma and asbestosis cases involving power plants, refineries, shipyards, and Navy vessels.

Origin

Kaylo was developed by the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, which had it at the pilot-plant stage by 1943 and made it at plants in Sayreville and Berlin, New Jersey. Owens-Illinois sold the Kaylo business to Owens-Corning Fiberglas in 1958, and Owens-Corning made and sold it until it was discontinued in the early 1970s. Early Kaylo used chrysotile asbestos; amosite was added to the formula later, and the companies' own records disagree about exactly when.

In 1943, Owens-Illinois asked the Saranac Laboratory whether the new insulation was a hazard to the people who made and installed it. Saranac's director, Dr. Leroy Gardner, warned that its mix of quartz and asbestos suggested "all the ingredients for a first class hazard," and the company paid for a long-term animal study. In 1948, Saranac reported that guinea pigs that breathed Kaylo dust for more than 30 months had developed asbestosis, and that Kaylo "must be regarded as a potentially-hazardous material."

Significance in Asbestos Context

Kaylo is one of the most important product names to know if you or a loved one worked around industrial insulation, because identifying it in a work history can directly link a specific defendant to the exposure. All forms of asbestos, including the chrysotile in early Kaylo, can cause mesothelioma, and the amosite in later Kaylo is an amphibole fiber especially strongly associated with it. The Saranac correspondence and internal Owens-Illinois memos are repeatedly cited in litigation as evidence that the manufacturer knew of the hazard years before warning workers, which supports claims for punitive damages in many jurisdictions.

Example Sentence

During his deposition, the retired pipefitter recalled cutting and fitting Kaylo block insulation around steam lines at the refinery throughout the 1960s, which his attorneys used to identify Owens-Illinois and Owens-Corning as defendants.

Related Terms

Amosite, Calcium Silicate Insulation, Owens-Corning Fiberglas, Owens-Illinois, Saranac Laboratory, Pipe Covering

Notes

• If you or a family member worked with insulation, try to recall and write down any brand names seen on boxes, blocks, or pipe covering. "Kaylo" printed on packaging is a strong product identification.
• Co-workers, foremen, and union records can corroborate Kaylo use at a specific job site; ask your legal team whether worksite witnesses should be contacted early.
• Kaylo exposure is most commonly documented in power plants, oil refineries, paper mills, chemical plants, shipyards, and U.S. Navy vessels. Mention any of these worksites to your attorney.
• The Owens-Illinois internal documents (including the Saranac Laboratory correspondence) are part of the public litigation record; your legal team can use them to address what the manufacturer knew and when.