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Days after the horrific train derailment incident in East Palestine, Ohio, pictures of the aftermath faced and seen by people have come to the limelight.
On February 3, a train traveling from Illinois to Pennsylvania carrying toxic materials derailed at around 9 pm, seemingly due to a mechanical problem with a wheel bearing due to overheating.
Twenty of the train's 150 freight carriages were carrying hazardous items. The crash included over 50 carriages, with ten transporting toxic items.
Initially, the authorities were worried that the site might experience an explosion due to all the chemicals, but they were able to remove five carriages containing vinyl chloride, a toxic substance used to manufacture plastic.
Last week, while draining the chemicals into a trench, authorities burnt the chemicals in a controlled manner that led to a thick black cloud of smoke that was visible from up in the air.
"Deeply unsettling": Twitter reactions to Ohio's toxic chemical cloud
After an unverified picture of Ohio's toxic chemical cloud up in the air went viral on the internet, Twitterati expressed their concern. Several users noted that the cloud could lead to several health and environmental side effects, calling it "unsettling," "dangerous," and "crazy."
Others blamed the Biden administration for not taking any appropriate action against the catastrophe.
As mentioned above, five carriages of the derailed train carried vinyl chloride, a highly combustible gas used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Exposure to vinyl chloride is linked to a higher risk of a rare kind of liver cancer, along with primary liver cancer, brain and lung malignancies, leukemia, and lymphoma.
On the train, other substances reportedly found by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene.
Moreover, the controlled burn also released phosgene and hydrogen chloride, the former being a highly toxic gas that causes breathing problems and vomiting.
After nearby East Palestine, Ohio, residents were asked to evacuate, on February 8, EPA carried out air monitoring that showed it was safe for them to return.
The EPA also conducted air quality tests in about 400 homes and didn't detect any toxic substances. They are also testing groundwater to see if there's any possible contamination.
