MEAD PAPER 
Asbestos Exposure

Former workers at the Mead Westvaco Paper plants in Chillicothe and Dayton, Ohio may be at risk of developing mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos materials on their respective work sites.

Mead Westvaco Corporation was an American packaging company that operated out of Virginia. At one point Mead had approximately 23,000 employees nationwide. MeadWestvaco announced in 2015 that it would merge with RockTenn and is now named WestRock.

MeadWestvaco was a producer of packaging, consumer and office products and specialty chemicals. The company’s paperboard, package and paper brands included Carrier Kote, Custom Kote, Printkote, Tango, Digipak, Amaray, Dosepak and Vision.

Paper mills have long been associated with toxic exposure. In 2002, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst identified MeadWestvaco as one of the largest corporate producers of air pollution in the country, with thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air. Major pollutants could include sulfuric acid, chlorine dioxide, chlorine, and methyl iodide.

For decades, the paper and packaging industry has been under pressure from former workers who were exposed to toxins and later sued the companies for compensation. Paper milling equipment and machinery were constructed with asbestos and the paper mills themselves were constructed with industrial flooring and cement.

Maintenance staff and machine operators at Mead’s Dayton and Chillicothe paper mills  may have faced some of the highest risk of toxic exposure. One study found that among paper industry employees, the majority of toxic exposure occurred in maintenance workers because they regularly cleaned asbestos machinery and the toxic dust would have been in the vicinity. Other positions at paper mills at risk include:

• Machine setters
• Machine operators
• Truck drivers
• Printing machine operators
• Floor managers
• Inspectors and quality control staff
• Assemblers and fabricators

Mead Paper Mill Asbestos Exposure

Work safety and health agencies like OSHA and the CDC have raised concerns over the safety paper mills. In a WHO study for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), researchers said over a third of studied paper mill workers were exposed to asbestos fibers.

Any current or former Mead employee at the Dayton or Chillicothe plants that have been diagnosed with cancer could file a claim against their employer.

Joe Lyon is a highly-rated Ohio Asbestos Lawyer and toxic exposure attorney reviewing paper mill asbestos exposure for Mead and International Paper workers nationwide.