Deluzio Announces $440,000 Federal Award for Longterm Health Monitoring on Impacts of the East Palestine Train Derailment

BEAVER COUNTY, PA - Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded $440,513 in federal funding to the University of Pittsburgh as part of a $10 million East Palestine, Ohio, Train Derailment Health Research Programto assess the long-term health effects of the 2023 disaster-which impacted nearby residents across the border in Beaver County, in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District. The University of Pittsburgh, one of three universities in a consortium leading the program, will oversee a study to assess health outcomes related to the liver and the liver/thyroid axis.

Congressman Deluzio is a leading voice in Congress in the fight for rail safetyand to hold Norfolk Southern accountablefor the harm they caused at the East Palestine derailment. He wrote a letter of supportfor the University of Pittsburgh's successful application for this long-term health monitoring grant and supported legislationto fund these kinds of NIH studies for residents in and around East Palestine. Congressman Deluzio recently sat down with rail workers in the regionto discuss the ongoing push to make our rail system safer.

"It's been more than two years since Norfolk Southern's catastrophic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio-just over the border from my Beaver County constituents," said Congressman Deluzio. "One of the scariest things about it is the fear that the toxic exposure could affect health years from now. I have been fighting for funding for long-term health monitoring studies for a while now, and I'm glad that we were able to successfully win this funding for important public health studies in our region. WhiIe many in the media and Washington have moved on from this derailment, I will never stop fighting for accountability from the railroad and to make freight rail safer."

"Shortly after the derailment occurred we partnered with community members to address their health challenges," said Dr. Maureen Lichtveld, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. "Therefore, our research has focused on addressing concerns about children's health, the safety of the drinking water and indoor air, and the damage to the liver, since Vinyl Chloride, one of the major chemicals spilled can cause liver significant damage now and over time."

Dr. Juliane I. Beier, the Principal Investigator of the new study, shared that "This NIH funding enables us to continue our research into the health impacts of the East Palestine train derailment on affected communities in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. The liver and thyroid biospecimen analyses we'll conduct are essential components for understanding the long-term health effects from this incident. This funding to the University of Pittsburgh allows us to provide comprehensive liver health monitoring these communities need."

The $10 million research programis administered by NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and aims to:

1. Conduct a health needs assessment by engaging organizations, networks, and researchers that are firmly connected to, actively working with, or embedded in communities near the train derailment disaster.
2. Establish a scientifically rigorous and valid longitudinal study to assess health outcomes and risks associated with the environmental disaster.
3. Provide training and educational materials as well as report-back of testing results and other findings to community members and local health providers.
4. Support the development and implementation of a health tracking system, in conjunction with data cyberinfrastructure. This system would leverage health care records (with participant consent) and research data in collaboration with health care providers and others to identify health conditions associated with the derailment and understand factors that might guide health care decisions and public health interventions.

The award announced today provides $10 million over five years to a consortium of three universities with a focus on community-engaged, high-impact research. The division of responsivities among the consortium of universities is as-follows:

1. The University of Kentucky will serve as the program lead and collaborate with program partners to develop the health needs assessment, longitudinal study, training, and a health tracking system.
2. The University of Pittsburgh will assess health outcomes related to the liver and the liver/thyroid axis. Specifically, they will evaluate health outcomes related to the liver and the liver-thyroid axis using advanced, non-invasive technologies, including FibroScan, a device designed to measure liver fibrosis.
3. Yale University will contribute to the program's health needs assessment and the longitudinal study by conducting hydrological water quality modeling to identify geospatial patterns leading from the train derailment to potential groundwater and drinking water contamination.

Together, these research teams will develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to address the health concerns and the needs of the residents impacted by the East Palestine derailment.

Congressman Deluzio and his team will continue to monitor how these funds address the community's needs in Beaver County and East Palestine. He will fight to make sure this congressionally authorized funding continues going to projects that make life better for Western Pennsylvanians.

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