USA TODAY International Edition
Toxic gases linked to Ohio train derailment raise concern
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – Days after crews released and burned toxic chemicals carried by a train that wrecked in Ohio, residents were concerned about toxic substances that could be lingering in their evacuated neighborhoods.
About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash Friday in East Palestine, according to rail operator Norfolk Southern and the National Transportation Safety Board. Vinyl chloride was released into the air Monday from five of those cars before crews ignited it to get rid of the highly flammable toxic chemicals in a controlled environment, creating a dark plume of smoke.
Residents in the immediate area there and nearby in Pennsylvania were evacuated because of health risks from the fumes and had not been allowed to return as of Wednesday.
What is vinyl chloride?
The gas is used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in plastic products. It is found in credit cards, furniture and car parts but is most notably used in PVC plastic piping, a common material in plumbing.
Is it dangerous?
Vinyl chloride is associated with increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.
The effect was studied in PVC pipemakers who breathed in vinyl chloride and developed rare liver cancers, said Ruth Lunn, who studies carcinogens at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “If you worked longer, you had a higher risk, and if your exposure levels were high, you had a higher risk,” Lunn said.
Vinyl chloride is dozens of times less toxic per molecule than the banned insecticide DDT, but it’s more dangerous per part than ammonia and natural gas, according to federal regulations.
What happens when it burns?
Officials warned the controlled burn would send phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air. Phosgene is a highly toxic, colorless gas with a strong odor that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble and was used as a weapon in World War I. Hydrogen chloride is a colorless to yellowish gas with a strong odor, and its primary effect on humans is skin, eye, nose and throat irritation.
What is being monitored?
James Justice, of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, said that a network of air station monitors inside and outside the evacuation zone was collecting samples and that none of their readings found anything to be concerned about. “We want to make sure that’s not going to change,” he said.
Justice said the agency was still working with experts to determine safe levels for various gases before reopening the evacuation zone. The incident response team did not specify what substances it was monitoring.
The gases experts suspect are in the area are heavier than air, which means they could be sitting in low- lying areas. National Guard troops wearing protective gear were taking readings inside homes, basements and businesses, Maj. Gen. John Harris Jr. said.
The EPA also sampled nearby rivers and was awaiting results.
When will the risk be over?
Whatever chemicals are in the air, gases largely dissipate fairly rapidly when out in the open, said George Gray, a public health professor at George Washington University. “Sunlight can change that, the movement of air can change that, temperature can change that,” Gray said.
Residents are concerned about longterm effects of low- grade exposure.
“There’s all that smoke and all those chemicals in there,” said Mason Shields, who lives in East Palestine and visited an aid center outside the evacuation zone. “I’m wondering if it’s even going to be safe for people to return within the next week or month or however long.”