CNN
A mobile lab monitoring for air pollution at the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, found one potential chemical of concern at higher levels than normal, a team of scientists from Carnegie Mellon University and Texas A&M said at a briefing on Friday. Researchers said it’s not yet clear what impact the chemical acrolein could be having on residents’ health.
The US Environmental Protection Agency gave the all clear for residents to return home shortly after the February 3 derailment and controlled burn that followed. The agency, along with local and state environmental experts, has been taking samples from the air, ground, water and from residents’ homes. Many residents have reported worrisome health symptoms in the weeks since the derailment, including rashes and headaches.
Information in the new analysis was collected on February 20 and 21, university researchers said. The mobile lab, located in a van, sucks in air from above the driver’s head as it slowly drives around public roads. It collects data points every second, the team said, and the unit has sensitive equipment that can measure pollution in the parts per billion; they can identify even minute pollutant concentrations that may otherwise be untraceable.
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