![]() ![]() The toxic train derailed in a fiery crash on February 3, leading authorities to evacuate the surrounding East Palestine, Ohio, area It can also cause death at very high levels. Minutes to hours after breathing benzene in, it can bring on symptoms including drowsiness, dizziness, increased or irregular heartbeat, headaches, confusion, unconsciousness and even death at very high levels.Īccording to the CDC, eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with benzene can lead to sleepiness, vomiting and convulsions within minutes to several hours. It is also used to make plastics, nylon and some types of lubricants, drugs and pesticides. The substance is formed naturally from volcanoes and forest fires, and is a natural part of crude oil, gasoline and cigarette smoke. It burns easily and evaporates into air rapidly. Two of the derailed cars reportedly contained benzene residue, a colorless or pale yellow liquid with a sweet scent. When burned or heated to a high enough temperature, the gas turns into hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and traces of phosgene. Sustained exposure can lead to death, due to the central nervous system shutting down. This means people can be overexposed to it without being aware it is even in the air.Ī five minute exposure to over twice the level it can be smelt at can cause dizziness.Īt levels five times that high, exposure can cause drowsiness, a loss of coordination, issues with sight and hearing, disorientation, nausea, headache, and burning or tingling in the arms and legs. The gas has a faint sweet odor, but the threshold at which it will smell is 'too high to provide an adequate warning of hazardous concentrations', according to the CDC. ![]() The chemical travels through the body in the blood and the liver will break it down into other chemicals, some of which can cause more damage than the vinyl chloride itself. The most likely way it will enter someone's body is by breathing it in, but it can also be ingested via contaminated drinking water. People who are exposed to vinyl chloride over many years are likely to get liver damage and cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists vinyl chloride as carcinogenic to humans, which means it has sufficient scientific proof that it causes cancer in people. PVC is not known or suspected to cause cancer, but vinyl chloride is associated with a higher risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain and lung cancers, lymphoma and leukemia. It is mainly used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a hard plastic resin used to make plastic products including pipes and wire and cable exteriors. Vinyl chloride is a colorless manmade gas which burns easily. Vinyl chloride - a carcinogen that can shut down the central nervous system A giant plume of smoke from the aftermath of the incident could be seen from miles away ![]()
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