Why Mesothelioma Cases Occur in Illinois
Illinois stands at the center of America's industrial history. Chicago served as the nation's railroad capital, the heart of Midwest steel production, and a hub for manufacturing, meatpacking, and power generation. Beyond Chicago, communities across Illinois — from Granite City and East St. Louis in the south to Joliet and Rockford in the north — built their economies on heavy industry where asbestos was used as a standard material for decades.
According to WikiMesothelioma.com, railroad workers and steel mill employees are among the occupational groups most heavily affected by mesothelioma. Illinois had both industries at massive scale. Chicago's railroad yards — the largest and busiest in the world during the mid-20th century — employed tens of thousands of workers who maintained and repaired locomotives and rolling stock insulated with asbestos. South Side steel mills and Granite City steelworks used asbestos in blast furnace linings, coke oven insulation, and pipe systems throughout their operations.
The state's power generation infrastructure added another major exposure pathway. Commonwealth Edison (now Exelon) operated dozens of generating stations across Illinois, all of which used asbestos insulation in boilers, turbines, and steam systems. The Wood River oil refinery complex near East St. Louis processed crude oil using asbestos-insulated equipment for decades. Every one of these industries created sustained asbestos exposure for the workers who built, operated, and maintained their facilities.
The 20-to-50-Year Latency Period
Mesothelioma does not appear immediately after asbestos exposure. The disease has a latency period of 20 to 50 years, meaning railroad workers, steelworkers, and power plant employees exposed in Illinois's industrial facilities during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are being diagnosed now. A railroad machinist who maintained asbestos-insulated locomotives at a Chicago rail yard in 1970 may only receive a mesothelioma diagnosis in 2026 or later. This long latency period is why Illinois continues to produce new mesothelioma cases decades after the peak era of industrial asbestos use.
Illinois workers frequently held positions at multiple industrial facilities over the course of a career. A boilermaker might have worked at a Commonwealth Edison power plant, then at a steel mill, then at a refinery — each position adding to the cumulative asbestos burden. This multi-site exposure history is important for legal claims because it can connect a patient to multiple asbestos trust funds and defendants, increasing the total compensation available.
Illinois Asbestos Exposure by the Numbers
Illinois consistently ranks among the top states for mesothelioma deaths. Chicago's railroad infrastructure alone employed hundreds of thousands of workers over the asbestos era, and the state's steel, power, and refining industries employed thousands more. The concentration of heavy industry in the Chicago metropolitan area, the East St. Louis industrial corridor, and communities like Joliet and Rockford created one of the densest webs of occupational asbestos exposure in the Midwest. If you worked at any industrial facility in Illinois, documenting your asbestos exposure history is a critical first step.
