Air in East Palestine IS toxic, researchers find – despite EPA ruling

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 conducted 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 contrasts sharply with continued assurances from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that air quality in the area is safe.

While they said the findings aren’t necessarily an “immediate health concern,” they said repeated exposure over time could be harmful.

Wade Lovett, 40, suffers from breathing difficulties and his previously low voice now sounds high and squeaky. He had to leave work because of this

There are already warning signs among residents, including reports of altered voices and rashes resembling chemical burns.

Dr. Albert Presto is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, who is part of the university’s chemical monitoring in Eastern Palestine.

He told the local news outlet WKBN: ‘That material that is dumped on the ground or in the water can come out of the ground again when the temperature changes or when the wind blows.’

Dr. Presto told it too CNN“It’s not so lofty that it’s necessarily a health issue to evacuate the building.”

“But we don’t necessarily know what the long-term risk is or how long that concentration causing that risk will persist.”

The mobile test bus has been used by the team for the past decade to see how air pollution varies in places like Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

They compared their data in eastern Palestine to levels of the same chemicals recorded by the EPA this month.

Yesterday, the EPA had screened the air in 578 homes and declared that levels of chemical pollution 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 have allowed my four-year-old to return to kindergarten, which is located at East Palestine Elementary School. She went back two days and got a rash on her hands again and started complaining about itching so I pulled her out again’

Acrolein was calculated to be the top concern for residents, the researchers from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon University found.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, acrolein is a clear, colorless gas or pale yellow, strong-smelling liquid.

It readily evaporates at normal temperatures and produces toxic concentrations.

It is toxic regardless of the route of exposure. It causes inflammation and irritation of the skin, respiratory tract and mucous membranes.

After being inhaled, it can cause delayed pulmonary edema – excess fluid in the lungs.

This can lead to coughing, chest pain and fatigue.

It is formed when fossil fuels are burned and is also a by-product of burning.

The other eight chemicals found to have 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 mainly used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a hard plastic resin used to make plastic products, including pipe and wire and cable outers.

PVC is not known or suspected to cause cancer, but vinyl chloride is associated with a higher risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain and lung cancer, lymphoma and leukemia .

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists vinyl chloride as a human carcinogen, meaning it has sufficient scientific evidence that it causes cancer in humans.

People exposed to vinyl chloride over many years are likely to develop liver damage and cancer.

It most likely enters a person’s body by breathing it in, 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 do more damage than the vinyl chloride itself.

According to the GGD, the gas has a faint sweet smell, but the threshold at which it starts to smell is ‘too high to adequately warn of dangerous concentrations’.

This means that people can be overexposed to it without being aware that it is airborne.

A five minute exposure to more than twice the level at which it can be smelled 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.

Prolonged exposure can lead to death by shutting down the central nervous system. 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 at the beginning of this month.

Wade Lovett, 40, claims he has developed a high-pitched, Michael-Jackson-esque voice since the chemical incident and is having trouble breathing.

He told DailyMail.com on Monday that the problem “is getting worse and worse.”

Mr. Lovett, a car detailer, was previously in good health, but since the chemical incident has developed a high-pitched, Michael-Jackson-like voice and difficulty breathing.

He told the New York Post: ‘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 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 leaving the area after their two young daughters started showing symptoms.

They live less than a mile from the incident and went back to their home the next day after the evacuation notice was lifted, but told CNN her children “weren’t themselves.”

She said, “My eldest had a rash on her face. The youngest did too, but not as bad. The two-year-old held her eye and complained that her eye hurt. She was very lethargic.’

“I have allowed my four-year-old to return to kindergarten, which is located at East Palestine Elementary School. She went back two days and got a rash on her hands again and started complaining about itching so I pulled her out again,” she added.