Less than a year ago, a [disastrous train derailment](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/04/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) sent a massive plume of dangerous chemicals billowing over East Palestine, Ohio, startling the town of nearly 5,000 residents and onlookers nationwide. Now, a new report warns that more of these catastrophes may loom: At any given moment, more than an estimated 3 million people are unknowingly at risk, as toxic trains full of a highly combustible and carcinogenic chemical used to make plastic move between Texas and New Jersey.
The [report](https://toxicfreefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/TOXIC-CARGO-by-Toxic-Free-Future-and-Material-Research-January-2024-1.pdf), published by Toxic-Free Future, an environmental health research and advocacy group, and Material Research, a group researching toxic pollution and inequity, created a map estimating a regular route for nearly 36 million pounds of the chemical, vinyl chloride. The path begins with OxyVinyl plants in Texas — a leading producer of the substance — to factories in New Jersey. The toxic chemical is normally used in polyvinyl chloride products — plastic materials including pipes, cable coatings and packaging materials.
Throughout any day, more than 200 rail cars filled with the chemical are moved across nearly 2,000 miles of U.S. railways — including through major population centers, the report said. And some experts worry that without intervention, the mass transport of the substance is another environmental health disaster just waiting to happen.
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Less than a year ago, a [disastrous train derailment](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/04/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) sent a massive plume of dangerous chemicals billowing over East Palestine, Ohio, startling the town of nearly 5,000 residents and onlookers nationwide. Now, a new report warns that more of these catastrophes may loom: At any given moment, more than an estimated 3 million people are unknowingly at risk, as toxic trains full of a highly combustible and carcinogenic chemical used to make plastic move between Texas and New Jersey.
The [report](https://toxicfreefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/TOXIC-CARGO-by-Toxic-Free-Future-and-Material-Research-January-2024-1.pdf), published by Toxic-Free Future, an environmental health research and advocacy group, and Material Research, a group researching toxic pollution and inequity, created a map estimating a regular route for nearly 36 million pounds of the chemical, vinyl chloride. The path begins with OxyVinyl plants in Texas — a leading producer of the substance — to factories in New Jersey. The toxic chemical is normally used in polyvinyl chloride products — plastic materials including pipes, cable coatings and packaging materials.
Throughout any day, more than 200 rail cars filled with the chemical are moved across nearly 2,000 miles of U.S. railways — including through major population centers, the report said. And some experts worry that without intervention, the mass transport of the substance is another environmental health disaster just waiting to happen.
**Read more:** [**https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/01/29/vinyl-chloride-trains-chemical-report/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/01/29/vinyl-chloride-trains-chemical-report/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)