It really doesn’t make much sense to me when every day humans are bathing themselves in the toxic chemicals of modern living, dumping many of those chemicals into the air, water and land around them. Whose to say toxins from the one shot train derailment and burning off are from that source and not from factory smoke stacks, tail pipes, house fires, bonfires, wastewater plants or just ordinary fugative emissions occurring from dust and wear of products in use by millions of households around the globe. Just rubbing most modern products and ordinary wear releases toxins in the air, even if you aren’t burning it or intentionally flushing down the sink.

It’s quite possible that chemical signatures match but do we really know the source? And should we be assuming that all chemicals in common use are properly and safety being disposed of? The answer is of course not, no matter how careful you are once you extract or produce a chemical some of its going to escape into the environment. Even nuclear plants – some of the most strictly regulated plants in the world – have fugative emissions both accidentally and in the ordinary course of business.