Valve Packing — Asbestos Exposure Crosswalk

What This Equipment Is

Valve packing is the sealing rope wound around a valve stem inside the stuffing box (also called a packing gland) to prevent process fluid from leaking out as the stem moves up and down. The same material is used around rotating shafts on pumps, compressors, mixers, and agitators.

For most of the twentieth century, the workhorse packing material for hot steam, hot oil, refrigerants, and aggressive chemicals was braided asbestos rope, sometimes coated with graphite or impregnated with PTFE / oil for better sealing. It came in square cross-sections sized to match standard stuffing-box dimensions, cut to length on the job, and seated in rings.

Why Packing Work Was a High-Exposure Activity

Packing wears out. A valve in active service might be repacked every few months. A pump shaft might be repacked every few weeks. Each repack involved: removing the gland follower bolts, digging the old, dried, often baked-hard packing out of the stuffing box with a packing puller or hooked tool, cutting fresh packing rings from a coil, seating them, and tightening the gland.

The removal step was the worst — the old packing came out in chunks, fragments, and dust. The cutting step exposed the worker to fresh chrysotile fiber from the cut ends. Workers whose shop responsibility was packing repair could perform hundreds of repacks per year.

Manufacturers Named in Litigation Involving Asbestos Packing

  • A.W. Chesterton — braided asbestos rope packing, compression packing — long product line
  • Garlock Sealing Technologies — packing products
  • John Crane — packing and mechanical seals
  • Anchor Packing — packing products
  • Palmetto Packing — packing products
  • U.S. Gasket Company — packing and gasket products

Documented Product References

Images sourced from publicly available product-identification reference materials. Inclusion does not constitute a finding of liability against any company.

Trust Funds That May Apply

  • Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC Asbestos PI Trust
  • Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust
  • Various smaller trusts established by specific packing-product companies through Chapter 11 reorganization

Trades Most Exposed at Packing Work

Pipefitters, maintenance mechanics, millwrights, plant operators (who often handle their own routine repacks), refrigeration mechanics, pump-rebuild specialists.

Jobsites in the Network Documenting Heavy Packing Work

Compiled from publicly filed asbestos litigation, EPA / state-DNR records, and industry-publication histories. Product and company references reflect what has been alleged or documented in publicly filed litigation. This page does not constitute a finding of liability against any company. Not legal advice; consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.