USX Corporation

The USX Corporation is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally founded in 1901 as the United States Steel Corporation, which was owned by Andrew Carnegie.

Every industrial work site utilizes a variety of important practices to keep everyone safe while on the job. At a location such as a steel mill, one important safety item is proper insulation for all of the large equipment they use. Insulating products keep the machinery running properly and help to prevent accidents. Tragically, now and then the very items that were put in place to protect workers actually cause them harm. One of the most notable examples of this was the use of asbestos in insulation and other goods.

Asbestos is a mineral that is found in large natural deposits throughout the United States. It was discovered around the time of the Industrial Revolution, and quickly became one of the most commonly used natural resources. Manufacturers included the mineral in hundreds of different products because it is strong, durable, inexpensive to mine, and resistant to heat and fire. Companies were quick to order massive amounts of the material and use it as one of the key ingredient in a multitude of commodities. What no one knew at the time was that asbestos is also toxic.

People who spend time around the mineral, or products that contain it, are likely to inhale small amounts of asbestos dust. This dust can get into the air, and since it is too small to be seen or felt, people did not even realize they were breathing it in. For most individuals, the fact that they had ingested asbestos would not be apparent for many years after they had become seriously ill with asbestos cancer. These victims would be informed by healthcare professionals that they had been poisoned by asbestos based products that they encountered while on the job. Only then did they discover that inhaling asbestos dust can cause chronic respiratory disorders and various forms of lung cancer, such as mesothelioma. These conditions are incurable, and can be deadly.

Because the effect of asbestos exposure take so long to become noticeable, even people who worked for the USX Corporation many years ago may still at risk for mesothelioma cancer. If you or someone you know spent time at this facility, notify you're your doctor about it immediately.