Mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in Chicago

For much of the twentieth century, Chicago's Southeast Side was one of the world's great steelmaking districts. Blast furnaces, open hearths and rolling mills needed heat-resistant materials, and asbestos was used in insulation, furnace linings, protective gloves and blankets. Steelworkers, bricklayers and maintenance crews worked around this material every day. Coal-fired power stations serving the city also used asbestos on boilers, turbines and steam lines. Many Southeast Side families lived within sight of the mills, and it was common for fathers, sons and neighbors to work in the same plant. When the big mills closed in the late twentieth century, workers scattered to other jobs, but the exposure they carried from those years remained.

Chicago was also a national rail hub. Rail car builders and locomotive shops used asbestos insulation and brake materials, and repair crews were exposed when grinding brakes or removing old lagging. Construction across the growing city added more exposure through fireproofing sprays, pipe insulation and joint compound in schools, offices and apartment buildings. Many Chicago families lived near these plants, and some relatives were exposed through work clothes brought home. Union halls for boilermakers, pipefitters and insulators dispatched members to jobs across the city, from power stations to high-rise construction. That pattern means a single Chicago tradesperson may have worked at dozens of sites, and each site can add to the list of asbestos products involved.