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Albaseal (Johns-Manville)

Albaseal was a Johns-Manville sealing compound, which J-M's sworn answers in a 1969 lawsuit described as "plastic, putty-like materials for sealing out (or in) air, dust, moisture, etc."1,2 In July 1954, a J-M item in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, announced it as "a new sealing compound developed especially for appliance manufacturers," recommended for sealing joints and other openings against air, vapors, moisture, water and dust.3 It came in beads 1/8 in. to 1/2 in. in diameter in 30-inch strips, and in slugs 1 1/2 in. and 3 in. in diameter, 18 in. long.3 J-M's employee magazine said in 1961 that it was "originally developed for the refrigeration industry," a different account from the 1954 item's appliance manufacturers.3,4

The sources give different years. An insurance company's 1981 list of asbestos products, compiled from other companies' answers in lawsuits, gives Albaseal as made from 1953 to 1975.2 A 1990 EPA notice that published what Manville reported gives 1957 to 1977, but as one date range for a group of nine sealing compounds that includes Albaseal.5

The 1954 item credited Albaseal's wide temperature tolerance "in part to its asbestos base," without giving a percentage.3 The 1990 notice gives only figures for the whole group of nine compounds: asbestos, 25 to 65%, with butane polymer, castor oil, chlorinated paraffin, calcium carbonate and smaller amounts of other ingredients, packaged as pugs in fiberboard cartons.5

J-M's employee magazine reported that J-M Albaseal sealed a time capsule made from a section of J-M Transite pipe at Somerville, N.J., in 1959, and in 1961 that Albaseal snap straps were the weather seal at the joints of J-M's Metal-On pipe insulation.4,6 A 1969 memo from J-M's Environmental Control Department proposed that Albaseal be among the products that "would not be labelled" with a caution label.7

See also Metal-On and Duxseal.

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Asbestos claims

If you or a family member worked with or around Albaseal (Johns-Manville) and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, a claim may be paid by the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Free case review.

What each document says

Every statement about Albaseal (Johns-Manville) in the documents, in each document's own words.

The Potter v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to plaintiff's interrogatories with exhibits

  • Description: “Plastic, putty-like materials for sealing out (or in) air, dust, moisture, etc.”, p. 201

The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981)

  • Made from: “53”, p. 32
  • Form: “SEALING COMPOUND”, p. 32
  • Made until: “75”, p. 32

Asbestos Magazine, 1954, July 1954

  • Sold from: “a new sealing compound developed especially for appliance manufacturers”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 83
  • Use: “sealing joints and other openings against air, vapors, moisture, water and dust; for appliance manufacturers”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 83
  • Form: “beads 1/8 in. to 1/2 in. in diameter in 30 in. long strips; slugs 1 1/2 in. and 3 in. in diameter, 18 in. long”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 83
  • Asbestos content: “its asbestos base”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 83

J-M News Pictorial, 1961, February 1961

  • Use: “weather seal at the joints of J-M Metal-On pipe insulation (Albaseal snap straps)”, p. 94
  • Description: “permanently-plastic sealing compound ... originally developed for the refrigeration industry”, p. 94

Asbestos; Publication of Identifying Information (1990)

  • Asbestos content: “asbestos, 25 to 65%”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA, Federal Register 55 FR (Feb. 13, 1990), p. 145
  • Made from: “produced 1957 to 1977”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA, Federal Register 55 FR (Feb. 13, 1990), p. 145
  • Made until: “produced 1957 to 1977”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA, Federal Register 55 FR (Feb. 13, 1990), p. 145
  • Ingredient: “butane polymer, 0 to 40%; calcium carbonate, 0 to 20%; titanium dioxide, 0 to 5%; carbon black, 0 to 1%; castor oil, 0 to 40%; magnesium oxide, 0 to 1%; chlorinated paraffin, 0 to 55%; stearic acid, 0 to 1%”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA, Federal Register 55 FR (Feb. 13, 1990), p. 145
  • Form: “Putty-like Sealing Compound ... Pugs-packaged in fiberboard cartons”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA, Federal Register 55 FR (Feb. 13, 1990), p. 145

J-M News Pictorial, 1959, July–August 1959

  • Use: “sealing the J-M Transite pipe time capsule at Somerville, N.J.”, p. 86

E. M. Fenner to D. B. Wingerter on Which Insulation Products to Label (1969)

  • Warning label: “would not be labelled”, p. 17

Manville Fund's Answers to Interrogatories in Gunn v. Celotex (1989)

  • Made from: “Date Manufactured: 1953”, p. 1008
  • Use: “Air conditioners, refrigeration equipment”, p. 808
  • Form: “Sealing Compound”, p. 1008
  • Made until: “Date Discontinued: 1975”, p. 1008
  • Asbestos content: “40.0 % fiber by weight”, p. 1008
  • Warning label: “Date Labeled: None”, p. 1008
  • Asbestos content: “asbestos containing”, p. 628
  • Made at: “Manville Plant, Manville, New Jersey (1913 through 1985): Albaseal” (at Manville) (the plant: Manville, New Jersey), p. 628
  • Asbestos fiber: “Chrysotile”, p. 1008

The Borel v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to interrogatories with exhibits

  • Description: “Plastic, putty-like materials for sealing out (or in) air, dust, moisture, etc.”, p. 209
  • Description: “plastic sealer” (as of 1953, 1954), p. 5210

Manville Fund's Responses to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories in Moore v. H.K. Porter (1990)

  • Made at: “Manville Plant (1913 to 1985): Albaseal” (at Manville) (the plant: Manville, New Jersey), p. 2111
  • Asbestos content: “asbestos containing”, p. 2111

See also

References

  1. The Potter v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to plaintiff's interrogatories with exhibits (December 29, 1969), p. 20.
  2. The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981) (April 30, 1981), p. 3.
  3. Asbestos Magazine, 1954, July 1954 (July 1, 1954), p. 8.
  4. J-M News Pictorial, 1961, February 1961 (February 1, 1961), p. 9.
  5. Asbestos; Publication of Identifying Information (February 13, 1990), p. 14.
  6. J-M News Pictorial, 1959, July–August 1959 (July 1, 1959), p. 8.
  7. E. M. Fenner to D. B. Wingerter on Which Insulation Products to Label (August 7, 1969), p. 1.
  8. Manville Fund's Answers to Interrogatories in Gunn v. Celotex (December 7, 1989), p. 100.
  9. The Borel v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to interrogatories with exhibits (March 27, 1970), p. 20.
  10. Sourcebook on Asbestos Diseases: Medical, Legal, and Engineering Aspects, Volume Two (1986), p. 52. Not yet published in our library.
  11. Manville Fund's Responses to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories in Moore v. H.K. Porter (February 15, 1990), p. 21.

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