EAST PALESTINE — University of Kentucky College of Public Health environmental scientist Dr. Erin Haynes launched the second phase of a health study to track the epidemiological impacts on residents in the wake of February’s train derailment and release of noxious chemicals by distributing wristbands that are designed to monitor air quality to about 80 local participants last Sunday.

In addition to those who volunteered to wear the wristbands, 20 residents will be participating in a blood draw, which will test for toxins including dioxins.

Haynes, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health and at the College of Public Health and who first reached out to residents virtually during a public health session held June 1 at the Way Station, brought a team to East Palestine to expand the East Palestine Train Derailment Health Study which began tracking the health effects relating to the derailment.

The first phase of the study was an online survey open to anyone aged 18 or older in Columbiana, Mahoning, Stark, Carroll or Jefferson counties in Ohio; residents of Beaver and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania; and Hancock County in West Virginia.

During the public health session on June 1, Haynes said monitoring chemical exposure through the wristbands would be the next step. Participants are asked to wear silicone wristbands, which can absorb chemicals from the environment, for seven days. The wristbands are from the Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource. They will be analyzed at Duke University by Dr. Heather Stapleton’s laboratory for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated dioxins.

During the biological-sample collection, about three tablespoons of blood will be drawn. Participants will provide a urine sample. The purpose of the sampling is to assess if chemicals related to derailment can be measured in urine and blood.

“We are going to be looking for potential biomarkers of exposure of this small subset and that will tell us if we need to go bigger and do a larger broad scale study,” Haynes said during the health session. “I am really excited in a comprehensive way so we can give you answers. I know individuals (have been tested for biomarkers) but I want to see what it looks like in a group and in line with the survey.”

Blood samples will be analyzed for immune, kidney and liver function and to determine if measurable levels of dioxins are in the body. Urine samples will be screened for the metabolites of vinyl chloride, acrolein metabolites, butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate.

Haynes has asked the Centers for Disease Cntrol and Prevention to conduct the dioxin analysis, while immune function will be measured by Ilhem Messaoudi, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. The liver and kidney function will be measured by the University of Kentucky Health Care laboratory.

In addition to the biological samples from residents, four University of Kentucky Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Science staff members who are on site in East Palestine will collect samples of their own urine when they arrive and right before they leave the village to determine if their urine has pre- and post-measurable levels of derailment-related chemicals.

The study, which is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and is not affiliated with Norfolk Southern or the Environmental Protection Agency, is in preparation for a much larger long-term health study in East Palestine.

“We are in this for the long haul. I don’t want to let you go until you know what the exposures may have been and what possible health outcomes you may be facing now and into the future,” Haynes said.