Some locals pointed out the fact that other towns had experienced the same weather event , but without the high casualty . “ There is something in the Zinc Works causing these deaths ,” wrote resident Lois Bainbridge to Pennsylvania governor James Duff . “ I would not want men to lose their jobs , but your life is more precious than your job .”
A local nurse administers oxygen to a patient in the emergency hospital in Donora , the town stricken by the death-dealing smog . Bettmann / Contributor
Others , furious with the outcome of the investigation and the lack of accountability for the mills , filed lawsuits against the American Steel & Wire Company . “ In response , American Steel & Wire asserted its initial explanation : the smog was an Act of God ,” Snyder writes .
In the end , American Steel & Wire settled without accepting blame for the incident . Although no further research was done into the incident in the years immediately after it , a 1961 study found the rate of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease in Donora from 1948 to 1957 was significantly elevated . Davis believes that , in the months and years after the incident , there were likely thousands more deaths than the ones officially attributed to the fog incident . That ’ s thanks to the ways our bodies respond to fine particulate matter , which were so prevalent at the time of the killer smog . The tiny particles slip into the bloodstream , causing increased viscosity . That sticky blood in turn increases the chance of a heart attack or stroke .