Ispat International

Ispat International started from humble beginnings as a small steel plant in Calcutta. The founder, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, opened the facility in 1976. Mittal went on to make the small mill a huge success and grow his company into a major powerhouse over the years. One of the facilities owned by Ispat International is found in the state of Indiana, and anyone who spent time at this site also spent time around products which contained large amounts of asbestos.

For nearly a century in the United States, asbestos was lauded as one of the most beneficial natural resources ever discovered. The mineral was found in large deposits that were easy and inexpensive to mine. It is a very strong material that can be molded into most shapes and sizes and is even able to hold up under the most extreme temperatures. On top of that, it is also a natural fire retardant. These qualities made it highly sought after by manufactures all over the nation who used it as a base for hundreds of different products. Items like protective clothing, insulation and firebricks were packed full of the mineral and shipped off to steel mills and other industrial work sites. The problem was most people had no idea that asbestos is toxic.

The hazardous nature of asbestos was not widely recognized before the 1980's. By that point millions of people had spent time working with and around the mineral, and had therefore ingested small amounts of the material on a regular basis. Tiny asbestos fibers suspend easily in the air, and people often breathe them in without even realizing it.

The effects of asbestos poisoning are painful, difficult to treat and sometimes deadly. Individuals who breathe the hazardous substance in become likely to develop chronic respiratory disorders or lung cancer. Many victims suffer with asbestosis or mesothelioma after working at locations like Ispat International that have a variety of tainted products on the premises. If you are among the millions of people who were subjected to being exposed to items that contained asbestos, you are urged to notify your healthcare provider about it immediately. Despite the fact that the mesothelioma survival rate is known to be discouraging, early diagnosis and treatments such as mesothelioma radiation may help improve the prognosis for this disease.

Today Ispat International is headquartered in Mumbai, but the thriving corporation has facilities in several countries throughout the world.