Hacker News Reader

Yes please read the links you just posted. Exposure to high concentrations for a long time (eg, if you spent a career in a vinyl chloride production facility pre-OSHA) is associated with a measurable increase in cancer rate. It’s not going to be a reasonable concern in this instance.

View on HN

?

In this instance, the risks to be worried about is far more than just cancer. And it isn't exactly comparable to a career in a vinyl chloride factory because factories don't typically have these production chemicals ablaze and mixed with whatever else was in the train wreckage, seeping into the surrounding earth, water and air. Before even speculating on the undetermined adverse health effects of this event in the long term, the immediate impact of this environmental disaster should warrant a mandatory evacuation and corporate accountability.

This is not a theoretical question — the burn already happened a week ago and the EPA and other agencies are there monitoring for contaminants.

There are many other chemicals at play here due to the controlled burn under an inversion layer.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com