Event Details
When:
-
Location:
Online: Zoom
Price:
Free
Brought to you by:
Institute of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Description
Check out this video to watch the The Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio - Impacts, Uncertainties and Emerging Lessons.
The derailment of multiple cars of a 1¾-mile-long Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, OH on February 3, 2023, and the subsequent burning of chemicals contained in several of them, released large quantities of hazardous chemicals into the environment. Sections of town were evacuated for days. Many residents developed signs and symptoms of illness soon after the derailment, which abated when they left the area. In others, symptoms persist or recur. Evaluation of the nature and extent of contamination of outdoor and indoor environments, as well as communication with town residents, was poorly coordinated leading to confusion and mistrust. Most local clinicians were poorly trained to respond to this kind of emergency and its aftermath.
This presentation will summarize the nature of the chemicals immediately released and others potentially formed when several tank cars of vinyl chloride were intentionally emptied and their contents burned. It will briefly describe what is known about the toxicity of these chemicals and concerns about long term physical, emotional and social impacts of the disaster.
Clean up of contaminated soil is largely complete but concerns about contaminated water and re-release of contaminants into the air remain. Long term environmental and health monitoring will be essential.
Lessons from this preventable disaster are still being learned. It is essential that they not be ignored since hazardous materials are routinely shipped throughout the country in trains like this, with few crew members and time pressures that preclude adequate safety inspections and responses.
More information about the speaker series is available, as are all past Toxicology and Societies recordings.
Featuring:
Ted Schettler MD, MPH, Speaker
Ted Schettler is Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network. He is also Science Advisor to Health Care Without Harm, an organization seeking to reduce adverse public health and environmental impacts of health care institutions. He has a MD from Case Western Reserve University and a MPH from Harvard University. He is co-author of Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment, In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development, and Environmental Threats to Health Aging. He is also the author of The Ecology of Breast Cancer. He has published a number of articles on related topics in peer-reviewed journals and has served on advisory committees of the US EPA and National Academy of Sciences.
Ruth Sofield, Co-Host
Ruth Sofield is a Professor of environmental toxicology and chemistry in the College of the Environment. She received her PhD and MS in Environmental Science and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Ruth's research group focuses on the effects of water and air pollution. Their current projects include the aquatic toxicity of microplastic and tire wear particles, and the use of moss as a biomonitoring tool for particulate matter. Ruth is a member of the Puget Sound Partnership Science Panel and the President of the Pacific Northwest Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Tracy Collier, Co-Host
Tracy Collier received his PhD in Fisheries Sciences from the University of Washington. He has worked for over 45 years as a toxicologist, with more than 35 of those years spent at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, where he served as the director of a science division that employed up to 100 people, covering several disciplines, including environmental toxicology, analytical chemistry, harmful algal blooms, and watershed processes. He has over 175 scientific publications, and currently is an affiliate faculty at Western.
Ian Moran, Co-Host
Ian Moran is a newly appointed Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Western Washington University. He conducted his PhD research at Oregon State University leveraging passive chemical samplers and embryonic zebrafish to investigate the occurrence, movement and toxicity of chemical mixtures at contaminated sites in Oregon and Alaska. As an alumnus of the College of the Environment Ian is excited to be back on campus to teach toxicology courses this year!
Accommodations and Other Details
Contact The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for this event by calling (360) 650-3353 or emailing Alumni@wwu.edu.
There will be auto-captions available for this event.