6 ms·

Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen that causes a rare cancer of the liver[0]. Livestock is dying and getting sick in the area[1], including fish in riv

• xadhominemx 4y ago
  Yes please read the links you just posted. Exposure to high concentrations for a long time (eg, if you spent a career in a vinyl chloride production facility pre-OSHA) is associated with a measurable increase in cancer rate. It’s not going to be a reasonable concern in this instance.
  • synthpop 4y ago
    ? In this instance, the risks to be worried about is far more than just cancer. And it isn't exactly comparable to a career in a vinyl chloride factory because factories don't typically have these production chemicals ablaze and mixed with whatever else was in the train wreckage, seeping into the surrounding earth, water and air. Before even speculating on the undetermined adverse health effects of this event in the long term, the immediate impact of this environmental disaster should warrant a mandatory evacuation and corporate accountability.
    • xadhominemx 4y ago
      This is not a theoretical question — the burn already happened a week ago and the EPA and other agencies are there monitoring for contaminants.
  • mjhay 4y ago
    There are many other chemicals at play here due to the controlled burn under an inversion layer.
• bsenftner 4y ago
  > rare cancer of the liver Not rare in Ohio, anymore.
  • xadhominemx 4y ago
    [flagged]
    • LarryMullins 4y ago
      Stop being dismissive of other people's lives. Go live in that town yourself if you're so certain it's safe.
      • xadhominemx 4y ago
        Please engage substantively and stop spamming me with the same comment.
  • renewedrebecca 4y ago
    It's ok, I'm sure our governor will just declare it a green chemical, and everything will be fine.
• Workaccount2 4y ago
  Vinyl chloride breaks down quickly into hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere. Including when it is burned (and the low amount phosphene given off when burning). So immediately following the crash the area was dangerous, but it is already mostly safe again by now.
  • margalabargala 4y ago
    To be clear, the timescale on which it breaks down is several days. So you're probably right that there's very little vinyl chloride still around in the environment. That amount of vinyl chloride can cause a lot of problems to the surrounding populace in several days. Also, it doesn't break down just into HCl. It also breaks down into formaldehyde. Which is both acutely toxic and also a carcinogen, and is quite a bit more stable in the environment.
    • Workaccount2 4y ago
      Right, but formaldehyde is naturally occurring too. It's in many foods and in your body as well. The amount that came from ten cars, spread into the atmosphere, is virtually nothing.
      • paulmd 4y ago
        > The amount that came from ten cars, spread into the atmosphere, is virtually nothing. Erm, on what basis do you make that claim? Ten train cars of dioxin spread over a square mile is a lot. Spread over 100 square miles? Probably still a lot, like the place in missouri that dumped it on all their roads to keep the dust down. That's probably that same order of "10 cars over 10x10 square miles", of a sufficiently nasty thing. 10 cars = safe is a number that needs context and validation and it will depend on the particular chemical.
        • Workaccount2 4y ago
          Where are you getting dioxin from? There was no dioxin involved in this incident.