星空传媒

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Monitoring Health After Fiery Train Derailment

Researchers study potential long-term impacts of hazardous chemical release

On Feb. 3, just before 9 p.m., Ashley McCollum heard a loud boom that would change her life.

She ran to the front of her East Palestine, Ohio, home and saw nothing. 鈥淪o I went to the back,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd as soon as I opened the door, it looked like the whole town was on fire.鈥�

For more than eight years, she鈥檇 lived just a block from a stretch of railroad tracks that was now a disaster site after a Norfolk Southern Railroad freight train with 150 cars derailed and a fire erupted. Among the cars that careened off the tracks were 11 carrying hazardous materials, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Soon area residents experienced nosebleeds; throat, skin and eye irritations; vomiting; and difficulty breathing. And they grew increasingly concerned about the unknown and potentially long-term health effects they and their children might face.

Just a month after the disaster, researchers at 星空传媒 and the affiliated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center were already discussing how to help residents. Gary Schwartz, MD, the new cancer center director, even began working on a project grant before he arrived in April.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of expertise and great people, but what I think really sets us apart is we know how to engage with communities鈥� said Fred Schumacher, PhD, an associate professor at the university鈥檚 School of Medicine, who co-leads the center鈥檚 cancer-prevention program and heads the East Palestine study.

The researchers are working on projects that include extensive outreach and community collaborations. The goal: to reach people where they are and in environments they trust.

They plan to monitor participating adults in East Palestine and surrounding communities for an initial two years, with plans for follow-ups. They also expect to assess how study participants鈥� possible exposure to the toxic chemicals—including vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate—might affect them and their risks for cancers or metabolic diseases that could result from DNA damage.

The research team will periodically take hair, nail, saliva and blood samples, looking for more than the expected level of DNA damage that occurs throughout an average lifetime or indications that the expected DNA repair mechanism isn鈥檛 working.

鈥淲e are trying to come up with new ways to shift the paradigm and detect diseases like cancer at an earlier stage,鈥� said Schumacher (GRS 鈥�03, public health; GRS 鈥�06, epidemiology and biostatistics).

To explain the study and enroll area residents, the team is attending community meetings, county fairs and other events in Ohio and Pennsylvania, which is about 40 miles away from the derailment site.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 go into my house without experiencing issues [such as a heavy chest] that are alarming,鈥� said McCollum, 33, who has two young children and moved into her mother鈥檚 nearby home the night of the derailment and later into a hotel. 鈥淢y daughter told me, 鈥楳om, when I look at my classroom, everyone鈥檚 eyes are red, and kids keep going to the nurse with bloody noses.鈥欌��

McCollum plans to sign up for the study. So does Rachel Jack, 45, who lives about six miles from the accident site. 鈥淲e have five kids, and they were begging us to move,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e like, 鈥榃e need to get out of here!鈥� And we鈥檙e like, 鈥榃ell, what are we going to do?鈥� We really don鈥檛 have a lot of options, you know, we own the property.鈥�

The study has received initial funding of $75,000 from the cancer center and the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Northern Ohio, whose members include 星空传媒 and area hospitals. It also has received $25,000 from the university and is seeking federal funding.

鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on getting the study off the ground,鈥� Schumacher said, 鈥渁nd showing the community that we鈥檙e going to be here for the long term.鈥�

— PATTY ZAMORA