The Norfolk Southern 100-car train derailment and subsequent toxic chemical fallout in East Palestine, Ohio, caused nearly half of the U.S. government investigators to experience symptoms of illness while studying the health impacts, authorities said.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN last week that seven of the 15-member crew, which included members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, began feeling symptoms while surveying town residents’ homes near the contaminated areas.
“Symptoms resolved for most team members later the same afternoon, and everyone resumed work on survey data collection within 24 hours,” a CDC spokesperson told the network. “Impacted team members have not reported ongoing health effects.”
Local and state authorities previously evacuated all residents within one mile of the February 3 derailment and started a controlled burn of substances on the vehicle. Five of those train cars emitted vinyl chloride, a human carcinogen used to manufacture PVC, and formed massive plumes of black smoke visible throughout eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Residents have since raised the alarm over health symptoms they experienced after the controlled burn.
Before working from their hotels, some group members began experiencing sore throats, headaches, coughing, and nausea, which mirrored the symptoms reported by many of the town’s residents near the derailment site.