Scientists explain health risks from Ohio train derailment

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, may have been exposed to serious health risks — including cancer — from toxic materials carried on a train that derailed on Feb. 3, experts warn.

The scientists told The Post they worry a controlled burn of vinyl chloride — a carcinogen –three days after the derailment near the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania may have contaminated the air, soil and water.

“Not only is it a dangerous chemical in its own right, but burning it you can get hydrochloride acid and phosgene, which has been used in warfare as a gas,” Dr. Jacqueline Moline, vice president of occupational medicine, epidemiology and prevention at Northwell Health, told The Post.

The phosgene — used as a weapon in WWI –could be what has caused swaths of animals to become ill or die since the derailment, Moline said.

“It can be life-threatening,” she said, noting both “cause breathing troubles and in the long term, can cause cancer.”

In addition to vinyl chloride, the derailed train cars contained the chemicals butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and isobutylene.

“We don’t know how all of these chemicals interact with each other,” Moline said, noting there’s a lack of research on such combinations and how they might cause lasting health effects.

Benzene, associated with liver cancers like leukemia and other blood problems, was also located in the train cars.

Following the Norfolk Southern Railway Company’s controlled burn Feb. 6, the Environmental Protection Agency said that while there may be an odor in the air, there was no trace of chemical contaminants of concern.

Exposure to some of the chemicals may cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and skin, as well as blood in urine and vomiting. while some may also cause nausea, headaches and dizziness — symptoms many East Palestine residents have reportedly said they’re experiencing.

“You can otherwise be young and healthy — but no one is supposed to be inhaling this stuff,” Dr. Anthony Szema, clinical professor of medicine, pulmonary and allergy at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra and Northwell doctor, told The Post.

“It’s not just inhalation, it could get on your skin, in the water supply, in the soil,” Szema said. “There are so many chemicals in this toxic brew — it’s really unknown.”

Both Moline and Szema related the possible health risks — which currently are only speculative — to how medical experts only learned of vast and devastating health issues caused by the 9/11 terror attacks years afterward.

“As an example, if you look at the World Trade Center cohort after 9/11, in that population we’ve seen different sorts of cancers occur earlier than in the population that was not exposed,” Szema said. “So I would be concerned long term.”

“There should be a long-term monitoring program among residents, workers and children in that area,” he added.

Moline, who is the director of Northwell Health’s WTC Health Program in Queens, echoed this sentiment based on her experience helping 9/11 survivors.

“I’d recommend there be a registry for folks who were in the community and downwind so they can be followed closely over time to see if anything develops,” Moline said. “To alert people to what might happen.”