Product Description
The Lincoln Electric Company (Cleveland, Ohio — founded 1895; today Lincoln Electric Holdings) was through the 20th century the dominant U.S. manufacturer of covered (stick) welding electrodes and flux-cored welding wires. Lincoln’s product lines include the classic Fleetweld and Excalibur shielded-metal-arc (SMAW) covered electrodes and the Innershield (NR-series, self-shielded) and Outershield (gas-shielded) flux-cored (FCAW) wires used across shipyards, refineries, power plants, pipeline construction, structural steel, and manufacturing through the asbestos era.
Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Lincoln Electric’s flux coatings contained chrysotile asbestos as a component of the covered-electrode flux extrusion mixture and of the flux core packed inside self-shielded and gas-shielded flux-cored wires. Welders who consumed Lincoln Electric electrodes and flux-cored wires were exposed to airborne asbestos fibers through three documented pathways:
- Mechanical disturbance of the flux coating during electrode handling, electrode-carton loading, and electrode-holder stub-out
- Arc-strike fracturing of the flux coating during arc initiation, which flakes coating fragments into the immediate breathing zone
- Thermal decomposition of asbestos in the flux during welding-arc combustion, releasing respirable fibers into the welding plume that the welder is bent directly over
Welders typically consume hundreds to thousands of covered electrodes and pounds of flux-cored wire annually during full-time welding employment, and the cumulative welder exposure to Lincoln Electric flux-coating asbestos in the documented era is among the most heavily-litigated welder-trade exposure pathways.
Lincoln Electric Company has been named as a Manufacturer Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.
Workers Exposed
- Welders (Boilermakers, Pipefitters, Sheet Metal Workers, Ironworkers Local members) consuming Lincoln Fleetweld/Excalibur stick electrodes
- Structural-steel welders running Lincoln Innershield self-shielded flux-cored wire on high-rise, bridge, and industrial steel
- Boilermakers welding pressure vessels, boilers, and refinery equipment
- Pipefitters welding process piping in refineries, chemical plants, and power plants
- Shipyard welders at Navy and commercial shipyards
- Pipeline welders on cross-country transmission-pipeline projects
- Railroad shop welders at locomotive and car-repair facilities
If You Welded With Lincoln Electric Consumables
If you consumed Lincoln Electric covered electrodes or flux-cored wire during the asbestos era — as a Boilermakers, Pipefitters, Sheet Metal Workers, or Ironworkers Local member, as a shipyard welder, or as a pipeline welder — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.
Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956