Start of the steel industry
After the American Revolution, the steel industry in Pittsburgh took off. It's three rivers allowed for easy transportation and trade routes, which brought in tons of money for steel factories. Soon, Pittsburgh became the steel capital of the world, and though this was good for the factories, it had a very negative effect on the environment. As early as 1839, Pittsburgh was documented as having dark, musty, black air, and polluted waters. Houses were constantly covered in soot and people's white shirts would turn gray within a few hours of being outside. The entire city was in a giant cloud of black smoke. Pittsburgh had an eerie haze surrounding it, blocking out the sun even at noon on a sunny day.
Air and water pollution
When the steel factories began to take over as Pittsburgh's main industry, they not only brought money, but polluted air and water as well. The regulations and laws that exist today did not exist in the early 1900's. Factories back then did not oversee what the smoke stacks were throwing into the air or the waste products they were dumping into the rivers. This caused Pittsburgh's air to turn black and it's water to turn dark brown or a dark red. The hydrocarbons, soot, and carbon monoxide being put into the air caused a black cloud to cover the sky. It blocked out the sun, and covered houses, car, and people. People had respiratory problems and became sick very often. Along with the pollution being put in the air, waste products such as slag and dust particles were dumped into the water. Since this water was also used as a drinking water source, many people became very ill very quickly.
Illnesses Caused by the pollution
In the late 1800s and early 1900's it was recorded that Pittsburgh had some of the highest numbers of patients with lung disease, chronic coughs, asthma, and bronchitis in the world. Steel workers did not have the safety equipment we do today (breathing/face masks, heat resistant gloves and uniforms, hard hats, steel tipped boots, welding masks, etc), so they were exposed to extreme levels of smoke and chemicals. Many died young from breathing complications and respiratory related illnesses. Family and children of the steel workers constantly breathed in the polluted air, which lead to increases in levels of asthma in young children and elderly, difficulties breathing, respiratory diseases, and even deaths. Polluted water lead to infection, digestive system problems, low birth weights, a variety of cancers, and chemical poisonings (lead poisoning being the most common). In the early 1900's, the rivers smelled of sewage and chemicals from the waste being dumped by the factories. This made many people very ill, and lead to greatly increased cancer and death rates.
Currently, Alleghany County is in the top 2% of cancer rates.