Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

npr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 607 posts

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#21

Post by perihelions »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #15

Before everyone loses there mind, because this story has oddly been on blast 2 weeks after the incident: VC is a gas a room temperature. None of the VC cars were ruptured in the crash. They were vented and ignited by workers to avoid explosion. Burning VC produces carbon oxides, HCl, phosgene, and formaldehyde. HCl, Phosgene become hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere. The total amount of hydrochloric acid this could…

You didn't read the article, in the particular the new list of chemicals they released that were previously undisclosed. (It's not just the same story on repeat). I don't think organic acrylates conveniently break down in water; I suspect they'd be persistent environmental pollutants, in addition to being carcinogens.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#22

Post by Workaccount2 »

MrOwnPut wrote: post #18
Workaccount2 wrote: post #15

Before everyone loses there mind, because this story has oddly been on blast 2 weeks after the incident: VC is a gas a room temperature. None of the VC cars were ruptured in the crash. They were vented and ignited by workers to avoid explosion. Burning VC produces carbon oxides, HCl, phosgene, and formaldehyde. HCl, Phosgene become hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere. The total amount of hydrochloric acid this could…

Agreed on not losing your mind, that's never good to do, but downplaying it is too far on the other scale. Seems too early to tell doesn't it? I don't think you can safely say "it would hardly register" without knowing the results from the contaminated regions... -- Water Runoff Responding crews discovered contaminated runoff on two surface water streams: Sulphur Run and Leslie Run. Under Ohio EPA oversight, Norfolk…

It's seems most likely the run off is from the ruptured tanks, petroleum lube oil, diethylene glycol, polypropyl glycol, and butyl acrylates. And likely primarily the non flammable ones, the oil and the glycols.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#23

Post by fabian2k »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #15

Before everyone loses there mind, because this story has oddly been on blast 2 weeks after the incident: VC is a gas a room temperature. None of the VC cars were ruptured in the crash. They were vented and ignited by workers to avoid explosion. Burning VC produces carbon oxides, HCl, phosgene, and formaldehyde. HCl, Phosgene become hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere. The total amount of hydrochloric acid this could…

You're assuming that the vinyl chloride burns perfectly and all of it will be converted without residue, which I don't think is a safe assumption. The products of burning it are less problematic than the original, but setting it on fire doesn't simply solve all problems here.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#25

Post by Workaccount2 »

perihelions wrote: post #21
Workaccount2 wrote: post #15

Before everyone loses there mind, because this story has oddly been on blast 2 weeks after the incident: VC is a gas a room temperature. None of the VC cars were ruptured in the crash. They were vented and ignited by workers to avoid explosion. Burning VC produces carbon oxides, HCl, phosgene, and formaldehyde. HCl, Phosgene become hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere. The total amount of hydrochloric acid this could…

You didn't read the article, in the particular the new list of chemicals they released that were previously undisclosed. (It's not just the same story on repeat). I don't think organic acrylates conveniently break down in water; I suspect they'd be persistent environmental pollutants, in addition to being carcinogens.

The list in the article is the same one I linked to.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#26

Post by MrOwnPut »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #22
MrOwnPut wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed on not losing your mind, that's never good to do, but downplaying it is too far on the other scale. Seems too early to tell doesn't it? I don't think you can safely say "it would hardly register" without knowing the results from the contaminated regions... -- Water Runoff Responding crews discovered contaminated runoff on two surface water streams: Sulphur Run and Leslie Run. Under Ohio EPA oversight, Norfolk…

It's seems most likely the run off is from the ruptured tanks, petroleum lube oil, diethylene glycol, polypropyl glycol, and butyl acrylates. And likely primarily the non flammable ones, the oil and the glycols.

Interesting, do you have details on that, or is that a guess?

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#27

Post by vorpalhex »

colpabar wrote: post #19
vorpalhex wrote: post #3

NBC suit and mask is starting to go from "crazy prepper territory" to sane supply keeping.

We live in a country where everything important is owned and controlled by billionaires or hedge funds who also control the government via bribery. Events like this make me think that it's much, much crazier to trust the government to keep us safe.

That would be great if it were true, unfortunately railway accidents are merely a reality of transporting dangerous chemicals hundreds of times per day.

If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave, there are no secret cabals of the rich - that is purely the white house.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#28

Post by perihelions »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #25
perihelions wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't read the article, in the particular the new list of chemicals they released that were previously undisclosed. (It's not just the same story on repeat). I don't think organic acrylates conveniently break down in water; I suspect they'd be persistent environmental pollutants, in addition to being carcinogens.

The list in the article is the same one I linked to.

I'm responding to the substance of your comment: "The total amount of hydrochloric acid this could possibly produce would hardly register in the water table." The other stuff will certainly register, and if you didn't mention it, then it can read to imply a negative.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#29

Post by colpabar »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #15

Before everyone loses there mind, because this story has oddly been on blast 2 weeks after the incident: VC is a gas a room temperature. None of the VC cars were ruptured in the crash. They were vented and ignited by workers to avoid explosion. Burning VC produces carbon oxides, HCl, phosgene, and formaldehyde. HCl, Phosgene become hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere. The total amount of hydrochloric acid this could…

The reason people are so upset isn't necessarily because of the environmental impact, it's because the people who work on these trains have been warning things like this could happen for years, and when they tried to strike over it, the federal government stepped in and crushed them into submission. There was a car on that train that was on fire for at least 20 miles before the derailment. If I can get pulled over for having a busted tail light, a train full of toxic chemicals should get stopped for being on fire.

You've been frantically telling everyone to calm down in every thread about this story for some reason. People are upset because it's another case of the government completely failing to do their jobs of keeping regular people safe, and before you claim that people on reddit are saying crazy things again, this isn't reddit and no one is saying those things here.

Re: Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment

#30

Post by Workaccount2 »

MrOwnPut wrote: post #26
Workaccount2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's seems most likely the run off is from the ruptured tanks, petroleum lube oil, diethylene glycol, polypropyl glycol, and butyl acrylates. And likely primarily the non flammable ones, the oil and the glycols.

Interesting, do you have details on that, or is that a guess?

Generally flammable things burn in a fire.
Post reply on HN