Dr. Anne Marie Fine: Leadership needed on air, water quality in East Palestine
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As you step outside this spring, think of the people of East Palestine.
A simple pleasure of life in the Northeast — breathing in clean, crisp air after a long winter indoors — now carries significant health risks for East Palestine’s residents. Instead of enjoying this exciting time of year, they’re reminded, again, that life may never be the same.
The air they’re breathing is still thick with pollution, months after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and spilled toxic waste in the small rural town along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Five of the derailed cars contained the carcinogen vinyl chloride, which Norfolk Southern felt they needed to burn off to prevent an explosion. The result? Massive black plumes of smoke that could be seen for hundreds of miles, and concerns about air, water and soil quality that will span generations.
It’s become evident that Norfolk Southern and public officials need to step up for East Palestine. It’s a moral and public health failing if they don’t attempt to provide cleaner indoor air and water. The people whose lives have been upended deserve peace of mind at home, work, school, restaurants, places of worship — the gathering places that communities depend on.
Federal and state officials have claimed it’s safe for evacuated residents to return to East Palestine, and that the levels of chemicals in the air and water are low and safe. But researchers argue the opposite, claiming air samples continue to show higher-than-normal levels of several hazardous chemicals. Months later, some residents are still hesitant to drink the water, and many have reported lingering symptoms in the wake of the disaster.
This is concerning, as decades of research prove that hazardous chemicals can cause major threats to human health — from childhood development to mental health, heart disease and cancer.
The top concern in East Palestine is dioxin, one of the most toxic synthetic chemicals to humans, second only to radioactive fallout. I have received panicked calls from physicians and families reporting vomiting, dizziness, headaches, congestion, rashes, and burning eyes. I’m also hearing from women who are already noticing disturbances in their menstrual cycles. Then there’s concern about the long-term or epigenetic effects of dioxin, which include cancer, endometriosis, infertility and immune suppression. Traces can show up in the bloodstream of second and third generations of families who weren’t even directly exposed.
My advice to pregnant women and caregivers of children? Leave immediately and never go back. But permanent relocation isn’t realistic for a lot of families, financially or otherwise. That’s why those responsible for the disaster and the subsequent cleanup must provide the tools needed to keep families as safe and healthy as possible.
Norfolk Southern is passing the buck on providing specific guidance and, as a result, people may be purchasing technologies ineffective at removing chemicals — or worse, products that could prove even more harmful. They can show leadership now by purchasing the proper air and water purification technology for all residents of East Palestine or, at the very least, providing the truth and science-backed education so people can act on their own.
When it comes to indoor air quality, residents have said a Norfolk Southern hotline is directing them to buy air purifiers from their local hardware stores, which is both disappointing and irresponsible. To remove chemicals, gases and volatile organic compounds from the air, a filtration unit must have a significant amount of activated carbon, which most purifiers at regular hardware stores don’t have. Additionally, some air purification technologies generate ozone, a process with its own set of health concerns.
What families need are plug-in air purifiers with HEPA technology and an activated carbon filter that’s able to absorb everything from dust or soot that may contain dioxins, to harmful gasses and other particulate matter in the air. SoCalGas took this extraordinary step after one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters on record — a chemical leak in 2015 that sickened thousands of Californians with headaches, nosebleeds and nausea.
The difference was the gas company, along with state government, stepped up immediately. They underwent a swift but extensive review of portable air purifiers, ultimately purchasing HEPA and activated carbon units to protect every impacted citizen from airborne contaminants inside their homes.
Families also deserve clean water. Since the Flint water crisis in 2016, the city of Flint and the state of Michigan have provided residents with water filtration systems, replacement filters and water test kits, and promises to continue to do so until all the city’s lead water service lines are replaced.
That’s leadership. That’s also what’s missing in East Palestine. Residents are helpless outdoors after the derailment — and the least Norfolk Southern and our government officials can do is ensure that the air they breathe and water they consume indoors is safe.
Dr. Anne Marie Fine is the medical director of Environmental Medicine Education International.