A multi-center research team including PQHS professors Schumacher, Trapl, and Tisch is studying the biological impact of the February 3rd train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio. Subsequent controlled combustion of five tankers released phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the atmosphere. Health and medical reporter Gretchen Cuda Kroens' article about the purpose and initial participant enrollment for the project noted that the research "will follow participants for five years and assess how toxic chemical exposures following the train crash may impact local risks for developing cancer and other metabolic diseases as a result of chemical damage to their DNA." .
Read more about the project and additional news coverage here.