Public Health Research and Surveillance Priorities from the East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment: A Workshop

To advance understanding and facilitate the recovery and wellbeing of those impacted, a planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will organize and convene a two-day virtual public workshop to explore potential health research and surveillance priorities arising from the train derailment and material hazards spill that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, 2023. The workshop will bring together participants and subject matter experts from government, non-governmental organizations, private sector organizations, and affected communities to discuss short and long-term human health impacts from the train derailment incident and similar incidents involving the transportation of hazardous materials.

The workshop will focus primarily on research questions of specific concern to affected and potentially affected communities in East Palestine and surrounding areas. Specific topics that may be addressed in this workshop include available information, knowledge gaps, and potential research needs and priorities within the following domains:

• Exposures associated with the train derailment;
• Physical, mental, social, and behavioral health impacts;
• Acute and long-term health effects of exposure, including formation of new exposures associated with burning rail cars, as well as complex, mixed exposures and cumulative risks;
• Surveillance regarding health risks, including, for example, specific health endpoints, populations to be followed, and duration of surveillance; and
• Lessons learned from prior disasters that can inform health care measures and public health interventions in the current context.

Details and registration.