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414 GEORGE D. CLAYTON 11. Effects of Air Pollution A. ACUTE EFFECTS ON PEOPLE ;:n: The effect of air pollution upon health has been of concern to theip since its inchoation. As mentioned above, the first air-pollution law waff in an attempt to curb air pollutants because of their detrimental health' Since that time four major occurrences have justified those fears. The fSiL recorded air-pollution disasters are: (f) Meuse Valley, Belgium, Donora, Pennsylvania, 1948; (8) Poza Rica, Mexico, 1950; and (4f| England, 1952. These dates reveal that the disasters are becoming ini| frequent, which is probably due in part to the ever-increasing size of tjj areas. j Meuse Valley.2 The first well-known air-pollution disaster occu tween Seraning and Hug, in the Meuse Valley, Belgium. During: ...th| December 1-5,1930, a large number of persons were taken ill, and more: died. Older persons with previously known disease of the heart or lungsfao for the majority of the fatalities. The signs and symptoms were prinjjffl caused by a respiratory irritant. They included chest pain, cough, sji breath, and irritation of the mucous membranes and of the eyes. Thg the Meuse Valley where the episode occurred is approximately 15 milesMS l1/2 miles wide and is surrounded by hills 330 feet high. Within thnSpP were, at the time of the disaster, the following types of industries; , , J --1-r-Four-very -large"steel_plHnts7"eacirfiaving coEng instMlationsj|la! naces, rolling mills, welding furnaces, boilers, and other operations wEf' with large steel plants. 2. Three large metallurgical works. 3. Four electric power generating plants. 4. Six glass works, ceramic plants, or brick works, which were eqmpl coal or producer-gas heating furnaces. 5. Three groups of lime kilns. 6. Three zinc plants, each equipped with reduction furnaces, retorf ovens, and other operations compatible with zinc plants. 7. One coking plant (other than those associated with .steel plants^ ----8rr0nersulfuri(nacid"plant^ithTr5asting7bvensi - : 9iii0net cpHCehtrated fertilizer, plant, with .concentration-andtd^qffij. In addition! to these industries discharging pollutants into . the.|a|g| most of. the homes, and communities burned coal, thus adding consTdeSi the,.p.o.ilutionJ.Qad-tCtther .sources of .pollution -at "railroads and automobiles. au|S The investigators considered the sources of pollution and/drejf * Meuse Valley Air Pollution. Royal Academy of Medicine of BelgiumydDece 1931, pp. 683-732. AIR POLLUTION 415 ||i]i'sttof .substances that could have been, and probably were, present in Sphere at the time of the disaster: odor of organic products (not identified) bxide't B" liclo (sulfuric acid) gicid mfrjj'11'id and its salts, ammonium rv;a;ffl' i'zjnc fluoride SSrioxide ' Sf jRi;"acid from phosphate plants drops of tar, phenol, naphthalene, and so forth soot cement dust lime dust metal dust zinc oxide lead arsenous acid anhydride arsine methyl alcohol aSSaK&^'ammoniuin salts (thiocya- ffimlfioes) um^suifiSe nil unsaturated hydrocarbons, in- ethyl alcohol formaldehyde zinc chloride silica from Bessemer Steel Works lffiural gas and gasoline vapors fnl||brological investigators found the meteorological conditions for jWicember i through Friday, December 5, 1930 to have been antiinpfi|ire,. characterized by high atmospheric pressures and mild winds of ^merly direction. During this period the fog became ..increasingly lepjjwjis' consid?iiSBlFT!Utrliirg'during-the-iiighVoften-as-much-as.,100 C. iSwiiB'l^yery mild east wind, not exceeding 5 miles per hour and often sSinli'nglthe days of December 2, 3, and 4 to 1.6 miles per hour. rfclK'iinvestigators had checked all the available data on the-medical, j^imflind environmental factors, efforts were n&de to determine the ^Sg^Kj^any of the contaminants could be. eliminated immediately irgMraWn toxicological action was not compatible with the medical ifjijifphtarainants' were eliminated because it^fSS decidbd`?that the zbuld* not have been sufficient to cause ' the^damage found. From jt/hbiinvestigators concluded the contaminantsjnost likely .to have lfgecond well-known air-pollution disaster occurred in Donora, g^^miK^fiur'ihg the pnpe.riinoHd nof WednneessHdaeyv,. October 27., to Sundayv,. October jjSjjMiiifim 'tHis'period 20 people died and 6,000 became ill.......... ie=Donoral^i^tBegtime=:the...jhve3tigation,was being.conducted, JjhqTe were dowingsindustries: tj?*i^!&arge-|teel plant having blast furnaces, looping rod mills, wire draw- [mntmeni^mTd^wire finishing department. " Snr'inlfe-pHeimann, G. D. Clayton, and W. N. Gafafer, Air pollution in Donora! Rffi'pffibfmalth Bull. No. 306. "t J ' ' i4222! ,1 ;jil) il