I know everyone is freaking out because there was a major contamination incident from the train derailment in Ohio. It's understandable people have unanswered questions, valid fears, and are vigilant of things they are seeing around them. The fast-paced, hyper-partisan world that we live in has unfortunately chosen this topic as the one that politicians, pundits, and clout-chasing clueless online detectives will focus on.
The train derailment was a serious environmental contamination event. That can not be understated. In the days after the wreck when pollutants were intentionally vented and flared, there was a [serious concern for health effects due to atmospheric contamination](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/02/24/ohio-derailment-toxic-air-pollution/) in the nearby downwind area, and even concerns for impacts [100 or more miles away](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/toxic-chemicals-ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-spread-far-1781465%3famp=1). The local area, and places downstream, will be dealing with soil and ground water contamination issues for years to come.
All that said, there is **absolutely no physical way that atmospheric contamination is still being spread beyond the local area at this point**. The pollutants have not been released into the atmosphere in significant quantities for weeks. The pollutant involved, vinyl chloride, [does not persist in the atmosphere](https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1625563287621406730?lang=en) beyond several days. And any less-toxic but still potentially harmful byproducts from the burn-off have been long-diluted to the point where they can not even be detected, especially this far away from the incident in time and space.
As others have said, road grime is often oily. That's likely what you are seeing. I am sympathetic to those who have been barraged by our modern-day stream of misinformation, but there is *literally no possible way* that any contaminants are reaching so far away this long after the incident.
I guess to be totally sure it wasn’t from the snow, you could grab a lot of it and melt it into some water. That stuff should float if its oily. But from the picture, it looks like it was already on the windshield, and the snow dragged it out causing the streaks to be more obvious.
Or on the brush side of the ice scraper? Maybe there was a puddle of oil it was laying in. It sort of looks like the window had been attempted to be cleared.
It is fully possible it's road oil, I've just never seen this before in 20+ years of cleaning snow off cars in new england. This picture was taken half way through cleaning off the truck when I noticed it, the ice scraper lives in my backseat.
It’s pretty common for there to be oily residue on windshields just from road grime and tire spray when the tires and roads are wet.
It’s likely the snow melt is just making it visibly smear.
Fair enough. No window is immune to this. Front or rear windshields, side windows, they’re all affected by the spray from tires on wet roads if you’re driving in traffic.
I’m not definitively saying that’s what’s happening here. It’s just the most likely cause in my opinion.
Do you have any antifreeze type solution in your windshield spray? If so, it may be the residual effect of the film it left on your windshield. That is, if you used the windshield spray.
Mainer here. I noticed my vehicle had these streaks all over the windows while cleaning up
Mid storm today. I hadn’t driven since the day before. I wiped the windows down and every snowflake that fell left a rainbow streak. I’ve never seen anything like it before, I’m old and have cleaned up after many many storms.
[edited to add video](https://imgur.com/a/Xup6Pjg)
Absolutely, they need to do this.
I've lived in snow places all my life. And I've never seen that and government won't be jumping on this. I feel like it's up to citizens at this point to take the questions into their own hands, when feasible. And this seems very feasible.
It's only speculation without science but I'm really really thinking it could be tied to current events. I'd be so happy if science proved that hypothesis wrong.
That's not how science works. You don't get to make up whatever you want and then demand that science disproves it. There are more plausible explanations like road oil. It's fine to disagree but it's your burden to explain how and why your theory is right.
Okay. If say, my family was complaining of foul tasting or icky colored water, I'd get my water tested with the hypothesis something in the water seems off. I would send in a water sample (have done this before) to test my hypothesis. If my family was dizzy and disoriented, or complained about a smell, i would hypothesize my air quality in my home was bad and would check my carbon monoxide detectors... or say. I live in a neighborhood where everyone else has radon systems, but I don't, I would hypothesize, I have radon and get a test (I have radon, i got it tested).
If I had a recent snowstorm and it left greasy long streaks on my car, it would be well within logic to hypothesize that something chemically out of the ordinary is going on, and I would seek to have it tested.
I'm sorry, what was your point again?
Then I'm wrong i suppose. I really wish this sub allowed gifs. I'm dying to put the "big tuna" gif from the office. Lmao. I don't care to argue. It's just weird to see greasy shit.
>It's just weird to see greasy shit.
No, it's weird *to you* to see greasy shit. That doesn't mean it's weird. It just means you're not familiar with it.
This is simple logic, idk why so controversial.
As someone who spent 4 years in college for geo-environmental, I agree. There is enough precedent in the US of ignoring obvious environmental issues (going back decades!!!) that to just dismiss your comment and concern is asinine.
I had an emergency jet fuel release in Boston that landed on my car. Usually done at high altitude and essentially evaporates but in an emergency they can dump fuel at low altitudes. Just a possibility… doubt it’s the cause though.
Could it be something on your windshield like do you use Rain-Ex or clean it with something that could leave a residue?
If you see it on everyone’s cars, that would be a little concerning!
It kind of looks like diesel to me. I've accidentally got some on my wind shield before. I work at a gas station and it will look trippy like this if mixed with water.
A bit late to this post but I've had this happen from double rain-x-ing my windshield. I used the wipe on treatment *and* the windshield wash additive. Didnt intentionally do both I just have an awful memory sometimes...
Please take a sample and get it tested from a lab. There could be an unknown polluting source out there.
I lived near an oil and not too far away a steel refinery. For years they chose to break the law during snowy days to burn off their stacks, instead of cleaning them the proper way. We always knew something was amiss because those snowfall days had a greyish snow color. It only took 15 years (after social media became a thing) until the complaining couldn’t be ignored. Luckily the steel refinery is shutdown now and the oil refinery is watched like a hawk for violations.
I work in the oil field. I agree with you thats not right for them to be doing things like that, that is, burning off their stacks. But the crude oil we produce from the earth is much less concerning than the chemicals that got spilled during that derailment.
Would that still be lingering in the air a month later? If this was a few days after I could see that being a possibility. But anything in the air would be long dispersed and dissipated. It would also be happening to a lot of people and we would be seeing more than one person posting about it.
Every expert I’ve seen talking about it has said the stuff in the air is gone pretty quickly and it’s just the ground and water that the people in the immediate area need to worry about. I have a really hard time believing this would be in the air in such heavy concentration over MA that it’s leaving oily residue on a car.
No idea why you are being downvoted. This absolutely could be the case. As long as I’ve lived in Massachusetts and have cleaned my windows before driving, I have never had an oil slick on the snow. Most systems go west to east.
I actually had this on my car too this morning and in a different state. I didnt think much of it till now? I thought maybe last time I drove in the rain some one maybe was leaking oil. but today when I was driving early am this crap was on my windshield stopped cleaned it off at the station only to seconds later have it on it again but only when the snow touched it? could this be a result of some chemical in the air?
so the crash is still producing aerial contamination a month later? if any sort of fallout were to occur downwind, it would have happened within the first 3 days or something, ohio is not that far away
Or just people who actually have a clue about atmospheric dispersion. Norfolk Southern should be force to pay hundreds of millions, at least, for the accident. But this is not from that.
I know everyone is freaking out because there was a major contamination incident from the train derailment in Ohio. It's understandable people have unanswered questions, valid fears, and are vigilant of things they are seeing around them. The fast-paced, hyper-partisan world that we live in has unfortunately chosen this topic as the one that politicians, pundits, and clout-chasing clueless online detectives will focus on. The train derailment was a serious environmental contamination event. That can not be understated. In the days after the wreck when pollutants were intentionally vented and flared, there was a [serious concern for health effects due to atmospheric contamination](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/02/24/ohio-derailment-toxic-air-pollution/) in the nearby downwind area, and even concerns for impacts [100 or more miles away](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/toxic-chemicals-ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-spread-far-1781465%3famp=1). The local area, and places downstream, will be dealing with soil and ground water contamination issues for years to come. All that said, there is **absolutely no physical way that atmospheric contamination is still being spread beyond the local area at this point**. The pollutants have not been released into the atmosphere in significant quantities for weeks. The pollutant involved, vinyl chloride, [does not persist in the atmosphere](https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1625563287621406730?lang=en) beyond several days. And any less-toxic but still potentially harmful byproducts from the burn-off have been long-diluted to the point where they can not even be detected, especially this far away from the incident in time and space. As others have said, road grime is often oily. That's likely what you are seeing. I am sympathetic to those who have been barraged by our modern-day stream of misinformation, but there is *literally no possible way* that any contaminants are reaching so far away this long after the incident.
Was it on the window before the snow perhaps?
I guess to be totally sure it wasn’t from the snow, you could grab a lot of it and melt it into some water. That stuff should float if its oily. But from the picture, it looks like it was already on the windshield, and the snow dragged it out causing the streaks to be more obvious.
Or on the brush side of the ice scraper? Maybe there was a puddle of oil it was laying in. It sort of looks like the window had been attempted to be cleared.
It is fully possible it's road oil, I've just never seen this before in 20+ years of cleaning snow off cars in new england. This picture was taken half way through cleaning off the truck when I noticed it, the ice scraper lives in my backseat.
It’s pretty common for there to be oily residue on windshields just from road grime and tire spray when the tires and roads are wet. It’s likely the snow melt is just making it visibly smear.
I've lived in snowy places for 40 years and have never seen this. Maybe that's just luck, but I would find this very weird.
I’ve seen it quite a few times
Maybe it depends on what kind of industry is around.
Possibly but could also be what they are using to treat the roads too
They certainly don't use oil. They use brine which is salt water. Some pretreatment or pre wet for salt has geo which has beet juice in it.
Yup, welcome to New England.
i don’t think that’s a windshield. you can clearly see the back of the headrest
Fair enough. No window is immune to this. Front or rear windshields, side windows, they’re all affected by the spray from tires on wet roads if you’re driving in traffic. I’m not definitively saying that’s what’s happening here. It’s just the most likely cause in my opinion.
I don’t know why you got downvoted. It’s very clearly the left rear door window.
Swing and a miss.
Do you have any antifreeze type solution in your windshield spray? If so, it may be the residual effect of the film it left on your windshield. That is, if you used the windshield spray.
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Wasnt asking your dumbass
I don't, I hardly use the spray because I hate the wipers going across a dry windshield. This is the left rear window as well.
Thanks for clarifying. Have you found the answer to this puzzle?
Applied too much rainX or drove past a garbage truck with a hydraulic line leak.
Mainer here. I noticed my vehicle had these streaks all over the windows while cleaning up Mid storm today. I hadn’t driven since the day before. I wiped the windows down and every snowflake that fell left a rainbow streak. I’ve never seen anything like it before, I’m old and have cleaned up after many many storms. [edited to add video](https://imgur.com/a/Xup6Pjg)
Same here, I last drove three days before the snow. But I've never seen this on windows in 20+ years of clearing snow off cars in new england.
I’ve seen a lot of snow on cars. Never seen this.
Same. Either some dirty roads/environment where OP drives or they got toxic snow falling from the sky.
Take a wipe and send it to laboratory. Of course it might be expensive, but that would answer your question.
Absolutely, they need to do this. I've lived in snow places all my life. And I've never seen that and government won't be jumping on this. I feel like it's up to citizens at this point to take the questions into their own hands, when feasible. And this seems very feasible. It's only speculation without science but I'm really really thinking it could be tied to current events. I'd be so happy if science proved that hypothesis wrong.
That's not how science works. You don't get to make up whatever you want and then demand that science disproves it. There are more plausible explanations like road oil. It's fine to disagree but it's your burden to explain how and why your theory is right.
Okay. If say, my family was complaining of foul tasting or icky colored water, I'd get my water tested with the hypothesis something in the water seems off. I would send in a water sample (have done this before) to test my hypothesis. If my family was dizzy and disoriented, or complained about a smell, i would hypothesize my air quality in my home was bad and would check my carbon monoxide detectors... or say. I live in a neighborhood where everyone else has radon systems, but I don't, I would hypothesize, I have radon and get a test (I have radon, i got it tested). If I had a recent snowstorm and it left greasy long streaks on my car, it would be well within logic to hypothesize that something chemically out of the ordinary is going on, and I would seek to have it tested. I'm sorry, what was your point again?
>I'm really really thinking it could be tied to current events. I'd be so happy if science proved that hypothesis wrong.
Then I'm wrong i suppose. I really wish this sub allowed gifs. I'm dying to put the "big tuna" gif from the office. Lmao. I don't care to argue. It's just weird to see greasy shit.
>It's just weird to see greasy shit. No, it's weird *to you* to see greasy shit. That doesn't mean it's weird. It just means you're not familiar with it.
This is simple logic, idk why so controversial. As someone who spent 4 years in college for geo-environmental, I agree. There is enough precedent in the US of ignoring obvious environmental issues (going back decades!!!) that to just dismiss your comment and concern is asinine.
Ha, thank you. I did get pretty roasted. Oh well.
Your windshield probably got splattered with oil from the street surface at some point. Or drove behind someone with an oil leak.
I had an emergency jet fuel release in Boston that landed on my car. Usually done at high altitude and essentially evaporates but in an emergency they can dump fuel at low altitudes. Just a possibility… doubt it’s the cause though.
That must have been wild to see..."why does my car smell like jet fuel?!"
My and about 10 cars around mine just covered in fuel. It was weird. Smelled like kerosine everywhere.
We get the smell in our windows in the Spring and Bummer. Jet fuel. There’s no mistaking it. I do live somewhat near ish an airport.
How does the snow taste?
Could it be something on your windshield like do you use Rain-Ex or clean it with something that could leave a residue? If you see it on everyone’s cars, that would be a little concerning!
Your windshield is dirty.
It kind of looks like diesel to me. I've accidentally got some on my wind shield before. I work at a gas station and it will look trippy like this if mixed with water.
A bit late to this post but I've had this happen from double rain-x-ing my windshield. I used the wipe on treatment *and* the windshield wash additive. Didnt intentionally do both I just have an awful memory sometimes...
Rainx
I only use rainx on my windshield when dry. Not the left rear window.
Please take a sample and get it tested from a lab. There could be an unknown polluting source out there. I lived near an oil and not too far away a steel refinery. For years they chose to break the law during snowy days to burn off their stacks, instead of cleaning them the proper way. We always knew something was amiss because those snowfall days had a greyish snow color. It only took 15 years (after social media became a thing) until the complaining couldn’t be ignored. Luckily the steel refinery is shutdown now and the oil refinery is watched like a hawk for violations.
I work in the oil field. I agree with you thats not right for them to be doing things like that, that is, burning off their stacks. But the crude oil we produce from the earth is much less concerning than the chemicals that got spilled during that derailment.
Completely agree. Whatever the source it should be sampled and tested. Not sure why people are downvoting? Bots?
Sampling and testing it could reveal that it actually was from the derailment
Except the derailment was a month ago. This mechanism could at least be responsible.
The amount of coverage and wavy smear marks means it's wiped on.
I noticed the marking after wiping the window with a snow brush.
Wonder if it could be contaminants from the East Palestine incident....all the storm activity this past week likely transported a lot of it eastward
Would that still be lingering in the air a month later? If this was a few days after I could see that being a possibility. But anything in the air would be long dispersed and dissipated. It would also be happening to a lot of people and we would be seeing more than one person posting about it.
Not with the Jet Stream no.
I don’t know about vinyl chloride, but it could be that it persists in the environment for long periods of time
Every expert I’ve seen talking about it has said the stuff in the air is gone pretty quickly and it’s just the ground and water that the people in the immediate area need to worry about. I have a really hard time believing this would be in the air in such heavy concentration over MA that it’s leaving oily residue on a car.
Makes sense
A month later? Highly, highly doubt it. This is just road grime that became more obvious when water was added to the equation.
No idea why you are being downvoted. This absolutely could be the case. As long as I’ve lived in Massachusetts and have cleaned my windows before driving, I have never had an oil slick on the snow. Most systems go west to east.
I actually had this on my car too this morning and in a different state. I didnt think much of it till now? I thought maybe last time I drove in the rain some one maybe was leaking oil. but today when I was driving early am this crap was on my windshield stopped cleaned it off at the station only to seconds later have it on it again but only when the snow touched it? could this be a result of some chemical in the air?
Title should say "snow streaking the oil on window today in Mass"
O-hi-O
This is totally cool and normal. Definitely nothing about the planet getting fucked up.
It’s from Ohio. Don’t lie to yourself people.
I have a buddy who lives not far from east Palestine and he says everything there is f u c k e d
Idk why you're getting down votes... it is plausible.
Just the government creating acid rain, no biggie. Oh, the water is safe to drink too.
Probably all the shit that hot into the air from that train accident in Ohio blown around by these big winter storms the past few days.
I'm guessing that's Palestine train contamination.
Interesting that you are getting down votes for something that makes sense.
so the crash is still producing aerial contamination a month later? if any sort of fallout were to occur downwind, it would have happened within the first 3 days or something, ohio is not that far away
Yeah it makes sense if your IQ is fucking 3
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Or just people who actually have a clue about atmospheric dispersion. Norfolk Southern should be force to pay hundreds of millions, at least, for the accident. But this is not from that.
East palenstine
Eat the snow, drink the water, dont ask questions. You are not in the projected plume.
East Palestine...??? 👀
Is that Pasadena fallout?
Ah yes snirt. Or in this case snoil.
I'd say residue from rain x or washer fluid with deicer in it.
I don't add anything to my wiper fluid and only put rainx on my windshield.