EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - At a second state-of-the-scene open house held at East Palestine High School Tuesday nightr, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, University Research Consortium and seven other research teams from across the country explained why they're collecting data for folks affected, and not affected by the toxic train derailment.
 
"Tonight we're hearing about six studies that are being funded by the National Institute of Health, so there are six different studies all are focused on looking at what are the different impacts of the train derailment on human health," Darcy Freedman, director of Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health.
 
Some residents are still worried about gardens and plants. Scientists who studied Semi Volatile Organic Compounds say plants don't uptake the chemicals much so their concern was for the surface.
 
"What we found there were no semi-volatile organic compounds of concern that had accumulated on the plant tissue," said Jeff Hattie Ohio State University professor of Soil Sciences.  
 
He adds it's important to wash all fruits and vegetables no matter where they're from. 
 
Hattie is also looking at dioxin and furan exposures. 
 
"There's not any evidence of widespread concern in our agricultural areas or neighborhoods that are away from the area of concern that was being remediated under EPA supervision," Hattie added.
 
He tells us the EPA is in the process of doing their confirmation samples at a small number of sites because there were some compounds they missed but the EPA is going back to ensuring all the sites are free of any contaminants so it could be open and available for public use in the future," Hatti said. 
 
Some criticize the research saying it is limited because the Ohio EPA did not test widely for dioxins or furans even though people were calling for that research to be done.
 
Other scientists are focusing on potential genetic changes in proximity to the epicenter of the derailment.
 
 "The larger the sample size we have the easier to tease apart what are some of the causal inferences from some of the environmental exposures," Healthy Futures Research Team Leader Fred Schumacher said. 
 
You can find out how to take part in the studies on the Columbiana Health Department's website. 
 
The wait will continue for residents waiting for two million dollars to be available to test their well water. 
 
The Columbiana Health Department tells 21 News, the Port Authority will have to sign an agreement to administer the plan first, then there is more paperwork  that must be completed in order to receive those federal dollars.