A Pennsylvania-bound train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2023. The train was carrying hazardous materials like vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, Ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene. Chronic exposure to these can cause serious health problems for the residents around the area.
Against this backdrop, a screenshot of a tweet claiming the residents in Ohio and Pennsylvania are experiencing third-degree burns on their bodies because of the acid rain caused by the chemicals.
A Facebook user posted the viral post with a caption:
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found it to be false.
Since the tweet contains two images, we conducted Reverse Image Searches for both of them to confirm the veracity of the claim.
IMAGE 1
A Reddit post by chachbag, dated May 2, 2012, informs that the blisters in the image are fake and that he volunteered to be a victim for training.
He further mentions the background against getting blisters all around his body and the process for getting them done on him. Looking at the image, we realise that the viral post has been flipped horizontally. Also, the image published on Reddit in 2012 predates to the Ohio incident and thus cannot be related to the current tragedy.
IMAGE 2
Another article published on FoxNews, dated July 25, 2018 with a title: What are hookworms? 3 things to know about the intestinal parasite, suggests that it talks about the intestinal parasite — hookworms, and further gives information about the symptoms and treatments for the disease.
One of the images under the ‘What are signs of a hookworm infection?’ section matches exactly with the viral image except for the point that it is flipped horizontally in the viral post.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of all the posts.
As the image and the article here predate the Ohio incident, it cannot be related to the derailment accident. So, it is clear that the viral screenshot of the tweet is false.
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