The destruction from a massive train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, spread far beyond the initial wreckage site, spewing “hazardous” pollution across 16 states, according to a newly released study.
On Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine — a village on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania — sending toxic chemicals into the air, soil, creeks and lakes in the region, according to the study published in Environmental Research Letters on Wednesday.
In total, the pollution from the wreckage and subsequent controlled burn of several of the train’s cars spread over 16 states in the Midwest, Northeast and Southern U.S., reaching 540,000 square miles or 14% of the U.S. land area, according to the study.
Researchers estimate that 110 million residents, or one-third of the nation’s population, were impacted by pollution.
Eleven of the derailed cars were transporting hazardous materials, five of which contained vinyl chloride, a highly volatile colorless gas produced for commercial uses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes for Health, at the time.
Several cars were also carrying ethyl acrylate and isobutylene, which are considered to be very toxic and possibly carcinogenic, the agencies reported.
