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43-583: The Donora Smog Museum features a collection of archival materials documenting the Donora Smog of 1948 , an air inversion of smog containing fluorine that killed 20 people in Donora , Pennsylvania , United States , a mill town 20 miles south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River . Donora was home to U.S. Steel 's Donora Zinc Works and its American Steel & Wire plant. The event

86-523: A conflict of interest due to funding from companies who make products suspected of causing harm. James Huff, associate director for chemical carcinogenesis of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences , called it "exhaustively researched and deftly written, illuminat[ing] more of the truth about chemicals and cancer and the relatively simple means of preventing or reducing cancer burdens." Epidemiologist Richard Clapp called

129-787: A historical marker noting the historic importance of the event. Devra Davis Devra Lee Davis (born June 7, 1946) is an American epidemiologist , toxicologist , and author of three books about environmental hazards. She was founding director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute , and is a former professor of epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health . She has served on several governmental and non-governmental organizations, conducting research and advocacy into effects of pesticides, asbestos, and wireless radiation on human health, especially cancers. Davis

172-608: A "crusader in the fight over cell phone safety". She claims that radiation from mobile phones and WiFi pose health risks including increases in cancer, but her claims are disputed by other cancer researchers and organizations including the US National Cancer Institute and Cancer Council Australia . She claims much research that finds no effects is industry-funded and biased. She summarized her research into health effects of cell phones in her 2010 book, Disconnect: The Truth about Cell Phone Radiation, What

215-585: A commissioner with the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection , who called the views of Davis "a fringe position that is not supported by science." Davis claims that radiation from 5G wireless technology poses health risks, and BBC Radio 4 has called Davis one of the most influential scientists in 5G-opposition movements. An excerpt of a lecture by Davis was used by new-age conspiracy promoter Sacha Stone in his 2020 film 5G Apocalypse: Extinction Event . In 2021,

258-644: A ghost town after a smog incident, based on the Donora Smog. In 2023 Andy McPhee's book, Donora Death Fog: Clean Air and the Tragedy of a Pennsylvania Mill Town , was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. An hour-long documentary, Rumor of Blue Sky , produced by Andrew Maietta and Janet Whitney, aired on WQED TV in April 2009. The film features archival images and interviews with survivors of

301-402: A half-mile radius of the plant. Dr. Devra L. Davis , director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute , has pointed to autopsy results showing fluorine levels in victims in the lethal range, as much as 20 times higher than normal. Fluorine gas generated in the zinc smelting process became trapped by the stagnant air and was the primary cause of

344-471: A mass-case of foodborne illness ), this article won him the 1950 Albert Lasker Medical Journalism Award . "The Fog" was later included in his celebrated collection of short stories Eleven Blue Men . Devra Davis ' 2002 novel When Smoke Ran Like Water starts with the Donora Smog. The 2009 novel Don't Kill the Messenger by Joel Pierson features a fictional town, Wyandotte, Pennsylvania, which became

387-870: A member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the US National Toxicology Program . Davis founded the International Breast Cancer Prevention Collaborative Research Group, an organization dedicated to exploring the causes of breast cancer. As senior adviser to the US Assistant Secretary for Health, Davis claimed that extra doses of estrogen -like compounds in the environment may increase the quantities of hormone some women receive to dangerous levels and can cause serious illness. Davis served five years as

430-497: A nonprofit with the goal of promoting awareness of environmental issues it believes are linked to cancer. The EHT campaigns for safer cell phone use, and has challenged research that finds no links between cellular phones and cancer, advocated for more research into the effects of wireless radiation on children, and called on the US federal government to reassess its safety guidelines for wireless technology . Davis has been called

473-656: A reasoned explanation for its determination that its guidelines adequately protect against the harmful effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation unrelated to cancer." In 1975 Davis married Richard D. Morgenstern, an economist with Resources for the Future and former Environmental Protection Agency official. They have two children. Her father died from multiple myeloma in 1984, and her mother from stomach cancer in 2003. Davis told The New York Times Magazine that, although she decided to devote herself to cancer research shortly after her father's death, his illness

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516-403: A university student, which inspired her interest in epidemiology . She completed a PhD in science studies at the University of Chicago as a Danforth Foundation graduate fellow in 1972, and in 1982 earned a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University as a National Cancer Institute senior post-doctoral fellow . In the late 1970s, as a policy advisor for

559-580: Is sometimes credited for initiating the clean-air movement in the United States, whose crowning achievement was the Clean Air Act . The museum, which opened October 20, 2008, is located at 595 McKean Avenue near Sixth Street in an old storefront. The museum has partnered with California University of Pennsylvania to develop a digital collection of primary sources that are archived on site. Donora Smog of 1948 Sixty years later,

602-531: Is the founder and president of the Environmental Health Trust, a non-profit organization which argues that mobile devices, WiFi, 5G, and other radio-frequency systems pose a health risk to humans and the environment . She has been called a "crusader in the fight over cell phone safety" and believes that radio frequencies could cause cancer. Such claims have been challenged by critics as being bereft of credible arguments. Devra Lee Davis

645-790: The Environmental Law Institute , Davis began publishing articles examining links between environmental chemicals and cancer. Davis was appointed resident scholar at the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences in 1989. In 1990, she led a study published in The Lancet along with National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences director David Hoel, British census director John Fox , and World Health Organization statistician Alan Lopez , examining cancer rates in

688-408: The 1948 event more severe was a temperature inversion , a situation in which warmer air aloft traps pollution in a layer of colder air near the surface. The pollutants in the air mixed with fog to form a thick, yellowish, acrid smog that hung over Donora for five days. The sulfuric acid , nitrogen dioxide , fluorine , and other poisonous gases that usually dispersed into the atmosphere were caught in

731-503: The 29th until Sunday night, the 31st, depleting their supply of 800 cubic feet (23 m ) of oxygen, borrowing more from all nearby municipalities, including McKeesport , Monessen , and Charleroi . "I didn’t take any myself. What I did every time I came back to the station was have a little shot of whiskey." The eight doctors in the town, who belonged to the Donora Medical Association, made house calls much like

774-683: The Battle Against Pollution , describes how environmental toxins are linked to cancers and other health problems. She provides accounts of the 1948 Donora smog in her hometown, the 1952 Great Smog of London , and other events. She also criticizes industry interests who dismiss evidence they dislike as "junk science." The book was a finalist for that year's National Book Award for Nonfiction . Public health philosopher Kristin Shrader-Frechette praised it as "the best book on public health and environmental pollution of

817-661: The EHT and other groups filed a lawsuit asserting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) failed to consider new scientific evidence when deciding in 2019 not to update its safety guidelines for cellular phone and cellular tower radiation, which had not been updated since 1996. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the EHT and plaintiffs, finding the FCC "failed to provide

860-578: The Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family . She has cited the World Health Organization 's 2011 classification of wireless radiation as a Class 2B agent ("Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans") . Critics of Davis have accused her of " cherry-picking " evidence and misrepresenting the studies upon which her conclusions were drawn, while the EHT has been accused of promoting low quality sources. Davis

903-440: The United States, Japan, and several European countries, concluding "all forms of cancer are increasing in persons over age 54 except lung and stomach" and "the changes in cancer other than lung are so great and rapid that their causes demand intensive investigation." The paper reignited debate between prominent epidemiologists over how to interpret cancer trends: Bruce Ames , Richard Doll , and Richard Peto , among others argued

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946-479: The book "a welcome addition to the struggle to correct the imbalance" between curative and preventative research, while science writer Fred Pearce wrote it "is a rattling good read and raises vital issues that remain relevant today." In a positive review, science journalist Dan Fagin called Davis "her generation's strongest advocate of the idea that synthetic chemicals are a seriously under-recognized cause of cancer." Medical historian Peter Keating, however, found

989-426: The book "largely unoriginal" and poorly organized. Epidemiologist Peter Boyle wrote that "devotees of conspiracy theories and aficionados of gossip and innuendo will be drawn towards this book like wasps to a juicy piece of meat" and discussed how the book suggested that the link between tobacco and cancer was used to distract from other possible sources. In 2007 Davis founded the Environmental Health Trust (EHT),

1032-464: The burgess (mayor) of Donora, requested the plants temporarily cease operations. The superintendent of the plants, L.J. Westhaver, said the plants had already begun shutting down operation at around 6:00 that morning. With the rain alleviating the smog, the plants resumed normal operation the following morning. Researchers analyzing the event have focused likely blame on pollutants from the zinc plant, whose emissions had killed almost all vegetation within

1075-519: The company was prepared to show at trial that the smog had been caused by a "freak weather condition" that trapped over Donora "all of the smog coming from the homes, railroads, the steamboats, and the exhaust from automobiles, as well as the effluents from its plants." U.S. Steel closed both plants by 1966. By 1949, a year after the disaster, the total value of the predominantly residential property in Donora had declined by nearly 10%. The Donora Smog

1118-560: The deaths. Further research was conducted by Mary Amdur about the effects of the smog; she was pressured to withdraw publication of these results but refused to be bowed. Preliminary results of a study performed by Clarence A. Mills of the University of Cincinnati and released in December 1948 showed that thousands more Donora residents could have been killed if the smog had lasted any longer than it had. Lawsuits were filed against U.S. Steel, which never acknowledged responsibility for

1161-428: The emergency center being established in the town hall. The smog was so intense that driving was nearly abandoned; those who chose to continue driving took risks. “I drove on the left side of the street with my head out the window. Steering by scraping the curb.” recalled Davis. It was not until Sunday morning, the 31st, that a meeting occurred between the operators of the plants and the town officials. August Z. Chambon,

1204-627: The environmental tragedy. The Donora smog incident was mentioned in Netflix 's The Crown in 2016, when it depicted a similar incident in London in 1952 . The Weather Channel produced an episode of When Weather Changed History on the Donora smog incident. The incident would be revisited in a later Weather Channel series, Weather That Changed The World . In 1995, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed

1247-502: The firefighters during the period of intense smog, often visiting the houses of patients who were treated by the other doctors in town. This was a result of patients calling every doctor in town in the hope of getting treatment faster. It was not until mid-day Saturday, the 30th, that Mrs. Cora Vernon, executive director of the American Red Cross, had it set up so that all calls going to the doctors’ offices would be switched to

1290-484: The founding director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). In 2009, she stepped down to become professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health . She has authored over 200 scientific papers as well as three books. Davis' 2002 book, When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and

1333-484: The general public from exposure to hazardous airborne contaminants. The incident was little spoken of in Donora until a historical marker was placed in the town in 1998, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the incident. The 60th anniversary, in 2008, was commemorated with memorials for the families of the victims and other educational programs. The Donora Smog Museum was opened on October 20, 2008, located in an old storefront at 595 McKean Avenue near Sixth Street, with

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1376-433: The incident was described by The New York Times as "one of the worst air pollution disasters in the nation's history." Even 10 years after the incident, mortality rates in Donora were significantly higher than those in other communities nearby. Hydrogen fluoride and sulfur dioxide emissions from U.S. Steel 's Donora Zinc Works and its American Steel & Wire plant were frequent occurrences in Donora. What made

1419-444: The incident, calling it "an act of God". While the steel company did not accept blame, it reached a settlement in 1951 in which it paid about $ 235,000, which was stretched over the 80 victims who had participated in the lawsuit, leaving them little after legal expenses were factored in. Representatives of American Steel and Wire settled the more than $ 4.6 million claimed in 130 damage suits at about 5% of what had been sought, noting that

1462-583: The inversion and accumulated until rain ended the weather pattern. The fog started building up in Donora on Wednesday, October 27, 1948. By the following day it was causing coughing and other signs of respiratory distress for many residents of the community in the Monongahela River valley. Many of the illnesses and deaths were initially attributed to asthma . The smog continued until it rained on Sunday, October 31, by which time 20 residents of Donora had died and approximately one third to one half of

1505-583: The last 30 years." Science writer Fred Pearce in New Scientist called Davis a "a hero with a nose for trouble" and drew comparisons to Rachel Carson , the author of Silent Spring . Other writers have compared and Davis and Carson, both in their styles and themes of writing and their small town Pennsylvania upbringings. Epidemiologist Bert Brunekreef wrote the book is "at its best when describing how commercial interests have harassed well known environmental health scientists in attempts to downplay

1548-536: The seriousness of, say, the effects of environmental lead on the IQ of children," but found "an alarming number of errors" regarding air pollution. Davis' second book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer , was published in 2007. In it, she argues that medical institutions involved in the " war on cancer " have focused more on cures than on prevention , and that some safety research into environmental toxicity suffers from

1591-484: The slogan "Clean Air Started Here". Fewer than 6,000 people still live in Donora. The Donora event led to the first large-scale epidemiological investigation of an environmental health disaster in the United States. An account of the smog was published in 1950 by the noted medical writer Berton Roueché in The New Yorker under the title "The Fog". Together with another article, "A Pig From Jersey" (about

1634-552: The town's population of 14,000 residents had been sickened. Another 50 residents died of respiratory causes within a month after the incident; notable among the fatalities was Lukasz Musial, the father of future baseball Hall of Famer and the 1948 National League MVP Stan Musial . Two of the heroes to emerge during the four-day smog were Chief John Volk of the Donora Fire Department and his assistant Russell Davis. Volk and Davis responded to calls from Friday night,

1677-493: The trends were unimportant: more attributed to better diagnoses and increasing human longevity, while Davis' views gained support from Philip J. Landrigan and biostatisticians such as John C. Bailar and Thomas C. Chalmers . Davis was appointed by President Clinton to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board . In 1997 she was working as a consultant to the World Health Organization and served as

1720-411: Was a homemaker. Raised in a Jewish family, as a child she briefly considered becoming a rabbi . At age 14, her family moved to Pittsburgh , where she attended Taylor Allderdice High School . Davis then attended the University of Pittsburgh , where in 1967 she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physiological psychology and an MA in sociology . She learned of the Donora smog incident as

1763-548: Was born June 7, 1946, in Washington, D.C., to Harry and Jean Langer Davis, and raised in the steel making town of Donora, Pennsylvania , where in 1948 a severe smog event killed 20 people and sickened thousands. Davis was the oldest of four children; her father was a chemist and machinist in the local steel mills , as well as a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania National Guard and her mother

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1806-608: Was featured prominently in a controversial 2016 episode of the Australian TV program Catalyst , in which she claimed "every single well-designed study ever conducted finds an increased risk of brain cancer with the heaviest users [of mobile phones]". The episode drew heavy criticism from researchers, and Davis' claims were refuted by public health scholar Simon Chapman , who claims there is no evidence of increase brain cancer rates in Australians, as well as Rodney Croft,

1849-533: Was one of the incidents where Americans recognized that exposure to large amounts of pollution in a short period of time can result in injuries and fatalities. The event is often credited for helping to trigger the clean-air movement in the United States, whose crowning achievement was the Clean Air Act of 1963 , which required the United States Environmental Protection Agency to develop and enforce regulations to protect

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