A group of investigators became ill in the days following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, while investigating residents’ chemical exposure.
Fifteen Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) investigators were wrapping up their investigation into chemical exposure in the East Palestine region. However, according to the agency’s confirmation to The Columbus Dispatch, a publication of the USA TODAY Network, seven of those investigators may have experienced precisely what they were investigating just a few weeks ago.
On Walk 6, seven specialists revealed feeling debilitated and said they encountered a sensitive throat, cerebral pain, hacking and sickness, as per the CDC. In surveys that the CDC has been conducting in and around the town on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania, the symptoms are in line with what some residents and respondents have reported.
The CDC says that most of the investigators’ symptoms went away the same afternoon they were first noticed, and within a day, everyone resumed survey data collection. The investigators who got sick haven’t said anything about how they’re feeling now.
The CDC stated that the evaluation of chemical exposure in East Palestine was scheduled to conclude on Monday.
Surveys about the possibility of chemical exposure were completed by 704 community members. Ohio saw the completion of 532 surveys, while Pennsylvania saw the completion of 172 surveys. The CDC reports that 318 surveys were completed by first responders.
