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The air in eastern Palestine contains “higher than normal” concentrations of nine potentially harmful chemicals, scientists have suggested.
Experts from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon University have been conducting their own air quality tests using a mobile test unit in eastern Palestine.
They said if the chemicals persist at current levels, it could cause long-term health problems for residents, the researchers warned.
The finding is in direct contrast to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) continued assurance that air quality in the area is safe.
While they said the findings are not necessarily an “immediate health concern,” repeated exposure over time could be harmful.
The chemicals on board the train were vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, benzene residue, glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene.
Wade Lovett, 40, has suffered from breathing difficulties, and his once low voice now sounds high-pitched and scratchy. He has had to take sick leave of work as a result
There are already warning signs among residents, including reports of altered voices and rashes that look like chemical burns.
Dr. Albert Presto is a research associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and is part of the university’s chemical monitoring effort in East Palestine.
He told the local news agency WKBN: ‘That material that is dumped on the ground or in the water could re-emit from the ground every time the temperature changes or when there is wind.’
Dr. Presto also said CNN: ‘It doesn’t escalate to the point where it’s necessarily like an immediate “evacuate the building” health issue.
“But we don’t necessarily know what the long-term risk is or how long that concentration that causes that risk will persist.”
The team has used the mobile test van for the past decade to look at how air pollution varies in places like Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
They compared their data in eastern Palestine with levels of the same chemicals recorded this month by the EPA.
As of yesterday, the EPA had tested the air in 578 homes and stated that chemical pollution levels are not above residential air quality standards.
A giant plume of smoke from the aftermath of the incident could be seen from miles away.
Ayla Antoniazzi told CNN: “I allowed my four-year-old son to go back to preschool, which is at East Palestine Elementary School. He came back for two days and developed another rash on his hands and started complaining of itchiness so I took her out again.
Acrolein was estimated to be the biggest concern for residents, researchers from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon University found.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acrolein is a clear, colorless gas or pale yellow liquid with a strong odor.
It evaporates easily at normal temperatures, producing toxic concentrations.
It is poisonous no matter what the route of exposure. Causes inflammation and irritation of the skin, respiratory tract and mucous membranes.
After inhaling it, it can cause delayed pulmonary edema – excess fluid in the lungs.
This can cause coughing, chest pain, and fatigue.
It is formed when fossil fuels are burned and is also a byproduct of fires.
The other eight chemicals found in higher-than-normal average concentrations are: benzene, vinyl chloride, butadiene, naphthalene, o-xylene, trichlorethylene, trichloroethane, and butadiene.
Vinyl chloride is a colorless man-made gas that burns easily.
It is used primarily to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a hard plastic resin used to make plastic products such as pipes and wire and cable exteriors.
PVC is not known or suspected to cause cancer, but vinyl chloride is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain cancer and lung, lymphoma, and leukemia.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists vinyl chloride as carcinogenic to humans, which means that it has sufficient scientific evidence that it causes cancer in people.
People who are exposed to vinyl chloride for many years are likely to suffer liver damage and cancer.
It most likely enters someone’s body by inhaling it, but it can also be ingested through contaminated drinking water.
The chemical travels through the body in the blood and liver, breaking it down into other chemicals, some of which can cause more harm than vinyl chloride itself.
According to the CDC, the gas has a faint sweet odor, but the threshold at which it will smell is “too high to provide adequate warning of dangerous concentrations.”
This means that people can be overexposed without realizing it’s even airborne.
A five minute exposure to more than twice the level at which you can smell can cause dizziness.
At levels five times higher, exposure can cause drowsiness, loss of coordination, vision and hearing problems, disorientation, nausea, headache, and burning or tingling in the arms and legs.
Sustained exposure can cause death due to central nervous system blockade. The gas is also found in tobacco smoke.
When burned or heated to a high enough temperature, the gas turns into hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of phosgene.
Residents have been reporting symptoms since the derailment occurred earlier in the month.
Wade Lovett, 40, says he has developed a high-pitched Michael Jackson-like voice and shortness of breath since the chemical incident.
He told DailyMail.com on Monday that the problem “keeps getting worse and worse”.
Mr. Lovett, an auto detailer, was previously in good health but has developed a high-pitched Michael Jackson-like voice and shortness of breath since the chemical incident.
told the New York Post: ‘My voice sounds like Mickey Mouse. My normal voice is low. It is difficult to breathe, especially at night. My chest hurts so much at night that I feel like I’m drowning. I cough up a lot of phlegm.
He added: “The doctor says I definitely have the chemicals in me.”
Ayla and Tyler Antoniazzi said they were considering moving out of the area after their two young daughters began showing symptoms.
They live less than a mile from the incident and returned home the next day after the evacuation notice was lifted, but were told CNN their children ‘were not themselves’.
She said: ‘My eldest son had a rash on his face. The youngest did too but not as bad. The two-year-old girl was holding her eye and complaining that her eye hurt. She was very lethargic.
‘I allowed my four-year-old son to return to preschool, which is located at East Palestine Primary School. He came back for two days and developed another rash on his hands and started complaining of itching so I took her out,” he added.