DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Students in East Palestine returned to class today, 10 days after the massive train derailment. Meanwhile, officials announced three more chemicals on the Norfolk Southern train are considered to be dangerous.
Vinyl chloride, the chemical that caused the explosion, is a brain, lung, blood and liver carcinogen. Authorities burned 20 train cars containing the chemical, and other hazardous materials, after the train derailed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the company, saying that ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also in the rail cars and possibly caught fire.
Ethylhexyl acrylate, is also a carcinogen.
“There’s a lot of what ifs, and we’re going to be looking at this thing 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the line and wondering, ‘Gee, cancer clusters could pop up, you know, well water could go bad,” Caggiano said.
Rail workers are also going door to door to meet with residents whose drinking wells might have been contaminated.
