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'Making us sick': Ohio residents scared to return home after 'toxic' train spill forced them to evacuate

Residents are anxious about the poisonous compounds that could linger in the air even days after the deadly burnt chemicals were released in the spill

EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: Residents are scared to go back home after a train with hazardous goods derailed in Ohio. They suspect poisonous compounds could linger in the air in the evacuated zone even days after the toxic spill. On the evening of February 3, in East Palestine, Ohio, a Norfolk Southern Corp. train carrying hazardous goods derailed. Plumes of black smoke could be seen even at a distance at the disaster spot.

The collision reportedly released vinyl chloride into the air before it was burnt by technicians to dispose of the extremely flammable, poisonous chemical in a controlled manner, resulting in the dark plumes of smoke, according to Bloomberg, The impact of burning vinyl chloride is a concern. Thus residents of the immediate region there and nearby, in Pennsylvania, were evacuated earlier due to health dangers from the smoke. Now many of them are commenting on the situation that drove them out of their homes, expessing their anger on social media. 

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'Devastated by chemical spill'

Several Ohio residents who were affected by the hazardous situation asked the authorities to take responsibility. One angry tweet read, “Ohio Gov. DeWine needs to spend a week or 2 living in a house in East Palestine Ohio, and drink tap water to prove it’s safe to live in the community just devastated by a chemical spill.”

Another tweet advised, “Ohio residents should NOT sign any liability waivers from Norfolk Southern or any other companies involved in the chemical spill. If you are pressured to sign, tell them NO," to which another Twitter user replied, “Truth… they wouldn’t be asking people to sign a damn thing if something was not wrong.”

Is vinyl chloride really dangerous?

Polyvinyl chloride, a strong man-made resin used to make plastic items, is made with this gas. Credit cards, furniture, and auto parts are among the products that use it, but PVC plastic piping, a popular plumbing material, is where it is most prominently used. Employees who work in environments where vinyl chloride is generated or used may primarily be exposed to it by breathing. Inhaling tainted air or tobacco smoke can expose the general public to this compound. The air around manufacturing facilities for vinyl products contains the greatest concentrations of vinyl chloride in the environment.

If the water supply is contaminated, vinyl chloride can enter households when the water is used for showering, cooking, or laundry. The National Cancer Institute of the federal government has shown a link between vinyl chloride exposure and an elevated risk of developing liver and other related cancer diseases. Exposure to vinyl chloride is linked to an increased risk of primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), a rare form of liver cancer called hepatic angiosarcoma, lung and brain cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia. According to government laws that specify allowed levels in the air, vinyl chloride is hundreds of times less harmful per molecule than the insecticide DDT, which is prohibited in the United States, but more deadly per part than ammonia and natural gas.