East Palestine residents at risk of long-term health problems from exposure to toxic chemicals, experts say

Researchers at Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon University reported Friday that residents of East Palestine, Ohio, could suffer long-term health problems from chemicals released by the train derailment a few weeks ago.

Although state and federal agencies have claimed that local water and air levels are "normal" following the incident, the aforementioned universities conducted an analysis of the data from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and found nine chemicals in the air that were at higher than normal levels.

"If these levels continue, they may be of health concern," the researchers said, questioning whether there could be other chemicals in the air that EPA was not monitoring.

The substance of greatest concern is acrolein, a colorless or yellow substance that can be highly toxic. In fact, it was used as a weapon of chemical warfare during World War I, The Epoch Times noted.

The rest of the elevated substances could also cause irritation of the eyes, lungs, headaches and other symptoms. However, one of the researchers clarified that they could not confirm that the current levels of the substances are causing symptoms in the population.

It should be noted that some East Palestine residents have already reported that they are experiencing headaches, sore throats, nausea and rashes, and believe that these symptoms could be related to the chemicals released by the train derailment.

The ravages of the toxic spill

The chemical spill has also posed a major problem for the local wildlife, as thousands of animals have died. Some 3,500 fish and hundreds of birds were found lifeless in the streams near the incident alone, and some pets also became ill right after the train accident.