In the coming days, our neighborly smalltalk was completely saturated with doubt of our air and water quality. Even on Instagram, I remember liking a post from a pregnant woman I knew from high school covering her windows in saran wrap as an attempt to create a safe, sterile bubble for the unborn baby.
The persistent, nagging headache I had been ignoring suddenly fell into context as I swallowed two ibuprofen; my throbbing temples were equal parts internalized environmental anxiety as they were possibly vinyl chloride.
This piece was a guest column written for The Philadelphia Inquirer about my experience living within 10 miles of the 2023 East Palestine Train Derailment. Read the full article here.
