| Title: | "Air Pollutant Patterns and Human Health Risk following the East Palestine, Ohio, Train Derailment" |
| Author(s): | Oladeji O; Saitas M; Mustapha T; Johnson NM; Chiu WA; Rusyn I; Robinson AL; Presto AA; |
| Address: | "Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Interdisciplinary Faculty of Toxicology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States. Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Interdisciplinary Faculty of Toxicology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States" |
| DOI: | 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00324 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2328-8930 (Print) 2328-8930 (Electronic) |
| Abstract: | "On February 3, 2023, a train carrying numerous hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, OH, spurring temporary evacuation of residents and a controlled burn of some of the hazardous cargo. Residents reported health symptoms, including headaches and respiratory, skin, and eye irritation. Initial data from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stationary air monitors indicated levels of potential concern for air toxics based on hazard quotient calculations. To provide complementary data, we conducted mobile air quality sampling on February 20 and 21 using proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry. Measurements were taken at 1 s intervals along routes designed to sample both close to and farther from the derailment. Mobile air monitoring indicated that average concentrations of benzene, toluene, xylenes, and vinyl chloride were below minimal risk levels for intermediate and chronic exposures, similar to EPA stationary monitoring data. Levels of acrolein were high relative to those of other volatile organic compounds, with spatial analyses showing levels in East Palestine up to 6 times higher than the local rural background. Nontargeted analyses identified levels of additional unique compounds above background levels, some displaying spatiotemporal patterns similar to that of acrolein and others exhibiting distinct hot spots. These initial findings warrant follow-up mobile air quality monitoring to characterize longitudinal exposure and risk levels" |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEOladeji, Oladayo Saitas, Mariana Mustapha, Toriq Johnson, Natalie M Chiu, Weihsueh A Rusyn, Ivan Robinson, Allen L Presto, Albert A eng P42 ES027704/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ 2023/08/14 Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2023 Jul 12; 10(8):680-685. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00324. eCollection 2023 Aug 8" |
