The National Institutes of Health said Thursday that it will fund longer-term health studies of the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, after a 2023 train derailment that sent more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals into the soil,

The initiative will examine potential long-term effects of exposure to vinyl chloride and other chemicals released during the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment.

The National Institutes of Health is undertaking an extended study of the health effects that East Palestine, Ohio, residents have experienced due to the 2023 train derailment there.