A recent assessment found high levels of dangerous chemicals in the air following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
QUICK FACTS:
- New research out of Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon University reveals East Palestine, Ohio contains “higher than normal” levels of toxic chemicals in the environment following the train derailment that occurred last month.
- The report determined that benzene, vinyl chloride, arcolein, butadiene, o-Xylene, trichloroethylene, napthalene trichloroethane, and p-Xylene were all in the air near the crash site.
- According to the researchers, acrolein presents the biggest risk to nearby residents as the limit discovered was well beyond what is considered “safe.”
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that exposure to the chemical may cause irritation to the skin, eyes, and organs and possible chronic respiratory disease.
- The agency also states that ingesting anything contaminated with the toxin benzene can potentially cause “blood cancers like leukemia.”
- While the EPA concluded from their investigation an average of just 0.00084 milligrams per cubic meter of benzene in the air, the Texas A&M researchers found 0.03, a 3,371% increase.
TEXAS A&M RESEARCH CENTER ON THE HIGH AMOUNT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THE AIR FOLLOWING THE EAST PALESTINE TRAIN DERAILMENT:
“Compared to EPA National Air Toxics data (NATA 2014), some concentrations in East Palestine (OH) for 9 out of ~50 chemicals EPA reported are higher than ‘normal.’ If these levels continue, they may be of health concern (especially acrolein),” researchers reported.
BACKGROUND:
- Last week, East Palestine resident Wade Lovett reported he was having trouble breathing following the train derailment and that his voice changed dramatically as a result.
- Lovett said he’s been struggling to breathe to the point where he feels like he’s “drowning,” but doctors don’t know what to do.
- “Doctors say I definitely have the chemicals in me but there’s no one in town who can run the toxicological tests to find out which ones they are,” Lovett said. “My voice sounds like Mickey Mouse. My normal voice is low. It’s hard to breathe, especially at night. My chest hurts so much at night I feel like I’m drowning. I cough up phlegm a lot.”
- Resident Melissa Blake, who lives less than a mile from the crash site, says she has been coughing up gray mucus since just days following the derailment.
- Blake’s doctors diagnosed her with “acute bronchitis due to chemical fumes,” and she now is on a breathing machine, oxygen tank, and three steroid treatments.
