Killer Smog in Donora, Pennsylvania
A small milling town in Pennsylvania was submerged in killer smog in October 1948. Donora, Pennsylvania, was the home of two U.S. Steel plants that emitted toxic gases that ranged from sulfuric acid to nitrogen dioxide to fluorine. The gases would normally dissipate within hours but not on October 27th; the gases stayed for five days. When it cleared on October 31, 20 were dead, and a third of the 14,000 residents were sick. Some were left with a lifetime of health problems.
