Residents and workers near the site of the Norfolk train derailment in Ohio are getting sick, NBC News reports.
The 150-car Norfolk Southern train, carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, resulting in a chemical fire and the release of toxic fumes in the environment.
According to NBC News residents and workers near the site are showing symptoms consistent with chemical exposure including headaches, nausea, rashes, and respiratory problems.
Melissa Blake, who lives within a mile of the site, said she was struggling to breathe and coughing up gray mucus two days after the train derailed. Blake evacuated her home and went to the hospital where she said she was put on a breathing machine, given oxygen and “three types of steroids.”
Medical records reviewed by NBC News, shows that she was diagnosed with “acute bronchitis due to chemical fumes.”
Blake still hasn’t moved back home since she was discharged from the hospital three weeks ago.
Howard Yang, the general manager at a manufacturing plant adjacent to the derailment site said they suspended work for a week because half of their employees were too sick to work.
“People ended up with rashes, nausea, vomiting, bloody nose, eye issues. A lot of coughing, wheezing,” he said. “We sent a lot of workers to the hospital to get checked out and, sure enough, in most cases, it was a diagnosis of ‘chemical bronchitis.’ They were put on five different kinds of pills, including steroids. Some guys have to use inhalers. It’s pretty bad.”
Wendy Snyder, a registered nurse who lives in East Palestine, said she started experiencing sore throat, a metallic taste in her mouth and headaches after the train derailment. Snyder said her symptoms improved when she went to work at a hospital in Pennsylvania about 20 miles away. A physician’s note reviewed by NBC said her symptoms “certainly seems related to her chemical exposure.”
Deborah Weese, a nurse practitioner at a nearby urgent care said she has been seeing about five to 10 patients a day from East Palestine who have symptoms consistent with chemical exposure. Weese said her patients’ condition worsen once they go back home.
“They’re complaining of burning to their lungs, nasal drainage, eyes burning, throat pain, unknown rashes that have started since they’ve been back to their homes,” she said. “When they go back home, their symptoms get worse or their lungs are burning more or they feel like they can’t catch their breath, those kinds of things. So it’s showing consistently that when they leave, they’re better. When they go back home, they feel worse.”
Norfolk Southern has advised residents to see a medical professional if they “are experiencing symptoms with which they’re not accustomed.”
