Toxic Dioxin Levels 15 Times Higher in East Palestine Resident's Home After Norfolk Southern Derailment and Detonation

"It’s completely life-changing and devastating," East Palestine resident Candice DeSanzo tells SC. Her home's "toxic equivalency increased almost fourfold [after derailment]," toxicologist finds.

Four months after the Norfolk Southern derailment and detonation in East Palestine, many residents Status Coup continues to speak with are unfortunately growing sicker—yet the EPA and other entities’ questionable testing continues to declare the air, water, and soil safe in their village and homes.

Despite the “all clear” from the EPA, independent tests conducted by a variety of engineers and experts have revealed East Palestine is anything but safe.

One of those tests, the results of which Status Coup went through with experts, indicates potentially harmful contamination that the EPA and other agencies are not looking for.

On February 1st, two days before the derailment, Candice DeSanzo, an East Palestine mother of five, decided it was time to change her furnace filter, a routine task she performed every few months. She put in the new filter and set the old one aside in the basement.

Little did she know what was about to happen to her small town just days later.

Fast forward to February 7th; Candice and her family were temporarily evacuated after Norfolk Southern detonated five cars of vinyl chloride, sending toxic plumes of smoke into the air for, at this point, an untold distance. When DeSanzo was assured by officials it was supposedly safe for her children and her to return home, she changed the furnace filter again based on a recommendation from a contractor paid by Norfolk Southern.

By this point, DeSanzo and her kids had all become seriously ill; in fact, a doctor instructed that her son, who was lethargic, having trouble breathing, and breaking out in rashes, needed to take a “decontamination shower” before he could be seen at the hospital.

With her family continuing to get sick, DeSanzo understandably did not trust EPA testing that found the air in her home was safe. Like many others, she sought out independent testing. Eventually, through working through the Unity Council, an East Palestine resident-based organization, and Scott Smith, the Chief Sustainability Officer from Eco Integrated Technologies, DeSanzo secured independent testing. Samples from her home, including her furnace filters, were sent to Eurofins, a large testing laboratory.

The results were staggering.

“The toxic equivalency (TEQ) increased almost fourfold between the pre and post-derailment filters,” a chemist and toxicologist, who asked to remain anonymous because his employer has a relationship with the EPA, told Status Coup after evaluating DeSanzo’s pre-and-post-derailment furnace filter results.

Most concerning, her post-derailment filter had “significantly elevated [levels of] dioxins.” As Status Coup reported weeks after the derailment and detonation, the EPA was, at that point, refusing to test for dioxins.

“The one chemical that just absolutely amazes me that they’re not looking for is a group of chemicals referred to as dioxins,” Stephen Lester, a toxicologist and the science director at the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, said at an East Palestine Town Hall on February 23rd (watch below).

“When you burn a chlorinated chemical like vinyl chloride, you generate dioxins. Dioxins, there’s like 75 of these dioxins—one of them is the most toxic chemical ever tested in the U.S. It is a nasty chemical.”

“It’s completely life-changing and devastating,” DeSanzo told Status Coup about her home’s results detecting concerning levels of dioxins. The testing “only verified what I already feared and knew—that my home-that I have worked my entire adult life to maintain— was no longer safe to live in.”

In a February interview with your humble author in East Palestine, Lester went on to explain:

“Dioxin is an extraordinarily toxic substance. It causes cancer, reproductive problems, developmental problems, immune system problems, diabetes, I mean the list goes on and on.”

The EPA ultimately conceded to pressure to test for dioxins in East Palestine, the results of which are still trickling in. But testing done by the state of Indiana on contaminated soil in East Palestine found dioxin levels hundreds of times higher than EPA scientists had stated posed cancer risks in 2010.

On DeSanzo’s furnace filter testing, it’s important to note that the post-derailment filter used for these tests was only installed for seven days before being changed. The pre-derailment filter had been installed for five months, which is plenty of time to establish a baseline for what would be in the filter normally.

“Particle-bound dioxins have been elevated beyond ‘normal’ ‘background levels,’” the toxicologist told Status Coup, adding that the “dioxins and furans that are greatly elevated are also highly chlorinated.”

This “strongly supports the notion that these dioxins/furans were formed from the [February] derailment,” the toxicologist added.

Pre-Derailment Furnace Filter Results

Post-Derailment Furnace Filter Results

Above are results for two of the dioxins in question. The first increased over 15 times when comparing the pre-derailment filter that had been installed for five months with the one that had only been installed for seven days just before the derailment. The second dioxin in question increased over 3 times. These two dioxins are also heavily chlorinated, strongly suggesting they were a byproduct of the open burn and detonation.

While we still are STILL not certain what specific chemicals are causing health symptoms for East Palestine residents, journalists, and even members of the CDC, more testing like what has been done here—by an independent tester—is needed to find answers.

Beyond DeSanzo’s concerning test results, Status Coup has also spoken with, and reviewed results from nearly 10 residents whose urine testing has detected elevated levels of toxic vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing gas that was detonated, and showered over East Palestine, after Norfolk Southern executed what we reported was likely a prohibited, dangerous open burn and detonation on February 6th.

East Palestine residents shouldn’t need to seek out this testing on their own; The EPA needs to step up and partner with agencies, such as the CDC, to provide additional health screenings, tests, and more to get to the bottom of what chemicals, and how much of them, are present in residents’ homes and throughout the village of East Palestine.

Status Coup will continue investigating and uncovering what the national media COVERS UP. We would like to do MORE ON-THE-GROUND coverage in East Palestine. We don’t rely on corporate money or high-dollar ad placements, we rely on viewer support. You can gain access to exclusive content and help us fund this reporting today by BECOMING A MEMBER for as low as $5 a month.