East Palestine resident reports traces of vinyl chloride

Jun 23, 2023

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Linda Murphy has an appointment in East Palestine's brand new health clinic, run by East Liverpool City Hospital.

She has questions for the staff based on results from her urinalysis she received nearly two weeks ago, showing traces of vinyl chloride.

Murphy's urinalysis was performed by Colorimetry, but after receiving the results, she consulted with Dr. Erin Haynes, the chair of the Department for Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky, which revealed 600 micrograms of chemicals that formed after the vinyl chloride metabolized.

"I know there's risks of liver cancers," she said. "I know there's risks of brain cancers. I know there's central nervous system disorders that come along with this."

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Hundreds of residents in the village of East Palestine described similar symptoms in the days following the Norfolk Southern train derailment on Feb. 3.

Murphy and her husband Russell chose not to drink their well water immediately following the incident, instead opting to have water buffaloes shipped to their house, but that still did not prevent the chemicals from entering her system.

"Just felt like my eyes were tired and swollen, extremely sore throat, almost like I drank hot liquids," Murphy said. "My voice was going in and out. I had a lot of trouble breathing, difficulty taking a deep breath, especially at night."

Dr. Gretchen Nickell is the chief medical officer for East Liverpool City Hospital and says residents like Murphy will be directed to a resident toxicologist.

"There's a toxicologist we can reach," Nickell said. "That's a service that's available to any physician through poison control, and we can talk with them. If they recommended that a patient see a toxicologist in person, we would help them obtain that consultation."