Toxic Cargo: How Rail Transport of Vinyl Chloride Puts Millions at Risk, an Analysis One Year After the Ohio Train Derailment.

This article focuses on the environmental and public health risks posed by the rail transport of vinyl chloride, a hazardous chemical used to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, primarily by OxyVinyls, the largest vinyl chloride monomer producer in the United States. It estimates that over 8,500 rail cars annually transport approximately 1.5 billion pounds of vinyl chloride across nearly 2,000 miles from OxyVinyls plants in Texas to PVC factories in New Jersey, Illinois, and Ontario, placing more than three million people—including around 670,000 children attending over 1,500 schools—within one mile of these routes at risk. The article highlights two major vinyl chloride train derailment disasters in East Palestine, Ohio (2023) and Paulsboro, New Jersey (2012), both involving shipments to OxyVinyls' Pedricktown, NJ facility, which caused significant health impacts and evacuations. It also discusses the toxic pollution and regulatory violations associated with vinyl chloride and PVC production, the role of fracking in vinyl chloride manufacture, and calls for corporate and governmental actions to phase out vinyl chloride and PVC in favor of safer alternatives.