Members of the team sent by the CDC to study the health impact of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, themselves fell sick while nearby the site. CNN reports that the researchers suffered from "sore throats, headaches, coughing and nausea," as locals did.
The investigators who experienced symptoms were part of a team conducting a house-to-house survey in an area near the derailment, and they immediately reported their symptoms to federal safety officers.
"Symptoms resolved for most team members later the same afternoon, and everyone resumed work on survey data collection within 24 hours. Impacted team members have not reported ongoing health effects," a CDC spokesperson said in the statement.
The illnesses are coming to light after repeated assurances by government officials and representatives from Norfolk Southern, the company that operated the train, that the air and drinking water in East Palestine is not hazardous to health.
A train crash is a problem for the company. Long-term healthcare consequences is a problem for the government. Norfolk Southern's job is to turn the former problem into the latter problem.
