Companies & Defendants

The asbestos-phenolic compound market was dominated by a concentrated group of manufacturers from the 1930s through the late 1970s. The companies below are the major documented manufacturers of asbestos-filled thermoset plastic compounds. Each has a separate page covering their plants, product lines, asbestos-era timeline, and publicly documented litigation history.

Compound manufacturers (the raw-material defendants)

  • Union Carbide Corporation (Bakelite) — Bound Brook, NJ; Pittsfield, MA. The most-litigated asbestos-phenolic defendant. Approximately 40% of Union Carbide phenolic compound production contained asbestos in 1969 per a court record entered in Kestenbaum v. Durez/UCC (2013, NY). Continued asbestos use through ~1977.
  • Monsanto Chemical Corporation (Resinox) — St. Louis, MO. Produced the Resinox line of phenolic molding compounds including RI-4052. Monsanto’s St. Louis headquarters and production made it a regional defendant for Missouri, Illinois, and surrounding jurisdictions.
  • Durez Plastics & Chemicals — North Tonawanda, NY; Niagara Falls, NY; Kenton, OH. Acquired by Hooker Chemical 1955; later part of Occidental Chemical Corporation. Durite™ branded asbestos-phenolic compounds continued through 1978. Multiple Durez-worker mesothelioma settlements on public record ($1.7M, $2.5M+).
  • Plenco (Plastics Engineering Company) — Founded Chicago, IL (1934); moved to Sheboygan, WI. Asbestos use 1950–1983. Liberty Mutual paid $14.3M in settlements and judgments on Plenco asbestos exposure claims.
  • Rogers Corporation — Rogers, CT; Manchester, CT. Documented in publicly filed records as having had NIOSH-measured 8-hour TWA asbestos exposures at 140× the then-current exposure limit at some operations. Continued asbestos use through the late 1970s.

Captive molders and downstream specifiers

  • General Electric (GE) — phenolic line — Pittsfield, MA primary plant plus mold shops nationwide. GE was the largest single consumer of phenolic compound in the U.S., reported at ~60 million pounds per year at peak. Continued asbestos use through ~1977. The 2024 GE Connecticut verdict ($22.5M) for talc-contaminated phenolic compound establishes the litigation framework.
  • Westinghouse Electric — Micarta — Multiple plants. Micarta™ is Westinghouse’s brand of asbestos-reinforced phenolic-resin laminate. Continued production through ~1980.
  • Fiberite Corporation — Winona, MN. Manufactured phenolic and other thermoset compounds. Continued asbestos use through the early 1980s. Acquired by Cytec Industries (1997).

Why this matters for workers

Every former phenolic-compound worker has a documented chain of exposure: (a) the compound they handled (Bakelite, Resinox, Durez, etc.), (b) the manufacturer that produced it, and (c) the public record of asbestos use by that manufacturer. Trust-fund claims and civil lawsuits both depend on establishing this chain. See Trust Funds for the compensation pathways available for each named defendant.