It was the evening of February 3, 2023, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the village of East Palestine, Ohio. Some train cars caught fire, and the cargo of some cars spilled on the ground. The material enters local waterways and travels miles downstream.
![Photos of cleanup efforts following the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/02/feature/body1a.jpg)
Over the past year, numerous local, state, and federal agencies, including NIEHS, have been involved in a coordinated response to support communities affected by the derailment in East Palestine and surrounding areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania. From the earliest days of the disaster, NIEHS has been actively involved in understanding community concerns about potential health impacts and identifying opportunities for needed research. Much of this work is accomplished through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Disaster Research Response (DR2) program.
During a visit to East Palestine on February 16, 2024, President Joe Biden acknowledged the “tremendous efforts” of communities and institutions in the aftermath of the tragedy.
![President Joe Biden speaks with East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway (right) and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan (left) during a speech on February 16 in East Palestine, Ohio.](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/02/community-impact/screenshot-biden.jpg)
President Biden announces six new research grants
During his visit, the president announced that “six National Institutes of Health are providing grants to some of the best research institutions in the United States to study the short- and long-term effects of what’s happening here.”
The six NIH awards are awarded by NIEHS through its Time-Sensitive Research Grants Program for research and community engagement activities in East Palestine. Many of the grantees are already working in the area and have developed good working relationships with the community.
Case Western Reserve University
Healthy Futures Study: Linking somatic mutation rates to baseline exposure in East Palestine
Principal Investigator: Dr. Frederick Ray Schumacher
- The research team will work with community partners and speak with residents of East Palestine to better understand their experiences and concerns during and after the disaster. The team will also collect and store blood and saliva samples for future research and analyze them to understand how the chemical mixture affects short- and long-term health.
Texas A&M University
Responding to Air Pollution in Disasters (RAPID) Air Sampling and Symptom Monitoring in East Palestine, Ohio
Principal Investigator: Dr. Natalie Johnson
- The team will employ a mobile air sampling strategy to rapidly characterize potential health risks from exposure to harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the post-disaster and recovery phases of the environmental disaster in East Palestine.
University of California, San Diego
Uncovering short-term public health impacts of toxin releases in East Palestine, Ohio: Outcomes and influencing factors
Principal Investigator: Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD
- Researchers have established community partnerships in East Palestine, Ohio, and conducted interviews with affected residents. They will begin recruiting a group of residents to assess the short-term (roughly two to three years) health effects of exposure to a cocktail of toxins.
University of Kentucky
Health tracking study of train derailment in East Palestine
Principal Investigator: Erin Haynes, Ph.D.
- The research project will include a health tracking study (via an online survey) to collect longitudinal measures of health symptoms, stress and well-being among residents of East Palestine. A network of researchers will also be established to help successfully report and disseminate research findings to the community.
University of Pittsburgh
Analysis of post-incident exposure in East Palestine
Principal Investigator: Gao Peng, Ph.D.
- The research project will collect soil, water and sediment samples to understand the extent of contamination and document the ongoing impact on the region’s local environment and its highly interconnected waterways.
University of Pittsburgh
East Palestinian community engagement in environmental exposure, health data and biobanking
Principal Investigator: Dr. Juliane Beier
- This research project will utilize citizen science strategies to actively engage community members to collect environmental samples, biological samples, and health outcome data to better understand the interaction of psychosocial stress and vinyl chloride exposure on their health and identify ways to reduce short- and long-term risks Methods. – The long-term effects of these exposures.
NASEM Virtual Seminar
Prior to the grant announcement, NIEHS and its partner NIH agencies supported a workshop that brought together community members and health and research experts to better understand the health impacts of rail disasters.
The virtual symposium “Public Health Research and Surveillance Priorities for the East Palestine Train Derailment” was convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on November 6-7, 2023. This symposium is funded by NIEHS, with support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute of Mental Health Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
NIEHS Director Dr. Rick Woychik opened a two-day symposium that explored potential health impacts and lessons learned from the incident. Objective: To identify specific research questions targeting affected communities in East Palestine and surrounding areas.
![Screenshot from Dr. Rick Woychik at the opening of the NASEM Symposium on Better Understanding the Health Impacts of Railroad Disasters, held Nov. 6-7.](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/02/community-impact/screenshot-woychik.jpg)
Aubrey Miller, MD, associate director for scientific coordination at NIEHS, concluded the impactful meeting with a heartfelt message that more needs to be done to help communities heal.
“The long-term approach to healing and sustaining impacted populations includes translating data into effective preparedness, response systems and future-proof recovery efforts that people can trust,” Miller said. “By working across sectors, we can help communities heal.”
NASEM released a workshop briefing in early January that laid the groundwork for the NIEHS funding announced in February.
(Robin Mackar is a writer and media relations coordinator in the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison.)