wheresmysnack t1_j8ru6x9 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 2:39 PM

What are the long term consequences of having chemicals like vinyl chloride escape out into the environment like in Ohio?

Few-Ganache1416 OP t1_j8rv8s4 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 2:47 PM

It is important to distinguish the fate and transport of vinyl chloride (VC) in different media in order to understand the long term effects of the release. VC will naturally degrade in the environment, but at different rates depending on the substrate. VC readily degrades aerobically, so shallow surface soils and shallow groundwater contamination may last only a few days to a few years depending on the amount released and the immediate actions taken by cleanup crews. If the source materials (e.g. contaminated soil) are removed quickly, then the degradation time can be cut significantly. However, if the VC is allowed to seep deeper into groundwater it may persist for several decades under anaerobic conditions. The concentrations of the recalcitrant VC in deeper groundwater would need to be monitored to determine if it may cause adverse health effects (from drinking water).

shesgotmoxie t1_j8uf2we wrote on February 17, 2023 at 12:41 AM

What about the dioxins that may have formed in the fire?

Few-Ganache1416 OP t1_j8ugg3v wrote on February 17, 2023 at 12:51 AM

The total VOCs they are measuring wouldn't capture dioxin concentrations in air, they would need to be evaluated separately. I haven't seen any dioxin measurements yet and I am not aware if they are measuring them at the moment.

painlesspics t1_j8umbvh wrote on February 17, 2023 at 1:35 AM

This is a problem, combustion byproducts should be the primary thing they're looking for if they torched it... right?

Few-Ganache1416 OP t1_j8v4fru wrote on February 17, 2023 at 3:59 AM

I'm not saying they aren't paying attention to it, just that I haven't seen anything in the public space at the moment.

[deleted] t1_j9pmmwt wrote on February 23, 2023 at 5:55 PM

[removed]

painlesspics t1_j9pysgb wrote on February 23, 2023 at 7:10 PM

Aside from prevention measures that nobody wants to pay for to keep them from happening in the first place? Not a whole lot.

The sampling equipment/testing supplies have a shelf life and are super expensive... To the point where it's prohibitive to keep them in stock in local communities.

Perhaps having a kit associated with different cargo to keep with the engineer that can detect cargo and their byproducts, or to add reaction byproducts (including combustion) to SDSs in the manifest would give better Intel on evacuation requirements.

Overall, in my opinion, the system needs to not only punish/fine when preventable incidents happen, but reward prevention actions when they do occur. Otherwise fines become the cost of doing business and are part of the decision matrix when deciding where to spend money on prevention.