Home Care In Toledo, OH

Last updated: October 22, 8:25 p.m. This page will be updated as new information is available.

Toledo Fire & Rescue hazardous materials personnel are working with federal, state and local partners to monitor conditions, coordinate mitigation efforts, and evaluate next steps.

The chemical released is glycidyl methacrylate, an irritant that can cause burning of the eyes, nose, mouth, and skin. If exposure occurs, shower or rinse the impacted area.

Symptoms of overexposure include headache, dizziness, tiredness, nausea and vomiting. Please contact a medical professional if you believe you're having a reaction to exposure. The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department also has an informational hotline: 419-779-7089.

The zone is a 1/4-mile radius around 1266 Progress Ave. If you live or work within 1/4 mile of that address, evacuate now. There is no shelter-in-place order. The evacuation will remain in place until the explosion risk has passed. There are 64 households in the current evacuation radius.

The emergency shelter closed at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday because all evacuees had found other accommodations. Anyone who still needs shelter can call 1-800-RED-CROSS or 211 to connect with resources.

Enter your address in the map below to see if you fall in the reduced evacuation zone or view a static image.

Yes. The water source is not contaminated. All treatment for tap water takes place inside and is distributed through pressurized water lines.

Dense fog and very little wind are affecting visibility across Toledo. You can’t tell fog from the release by looking, so please don’t rely on how the air looks. If you are outside the evacuation or shelter-in-place zones and smell an unusual odor, please stay indoors, close windows and doors, and turn off ventilation that draws in outside air.

Smelling an odor doesn't always mean toxic levels of exposure. If you are outside the evacuation or shelter-in-place zones and smell an unusual odor, please stay indoors, close windows and doors, and turn off ventilation that draws in outside air.

The interstate is still open. Anyone driving through should roll up their windows and recirculate the air inside the vehicle. Roads are closed surrounding the area of evacuation.

Coast Guard advises compliance with prescribed evacuation and shelter-in-place zones while operating on water at this time due to potential exposure through the air.

Call 911 only for emergencies. Engage Toledo will not be able to provide more information than what has been released. More information will be available here as soon as possible.

City of Toledo website, Toledo Fire & Rescue social media, and Lucas County EMA alerts.

City services returned to normal operations Thursday, Oct. 22. Normal trash collection has resumed; residents whose pickup was missed yesterday will be collected on the next regularly scheduled collection day.

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - The evacuation order near the site of the industrial chemical leak in Toledo was lifted late Friday morning. Local and federal authorities answered questions about health and safety.

The city released data gathered since the incident began on Tuesday night.

The full briefing with environmental experts and city leaders is shown in the video below. The news article follows.

End to evacuation order

The evacuation order following a chemical release in Toledo was lifted late Friday morning, according to federal and local authorities.

Those within the quarter-mile radius of MC Tank Transport on Progress Avenue can return to the area, first responders said. The shelter-in-place order for the wider surrounding area was canceled on Thursday. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said every restriction once in place from the chemical release has now been lifted.

“It represents a significant positive development in this story. It is also the case that the tank is completely now vented,” Kapszukiewicz said. ”It did take longer than we thought it would, longer than we wanted it too, frankly — but as of late last night the final contents of the tank vented out and now the tank is entirely empty.”

A city spokesperson announced Thursday night that the tank sending Glycidyl Methacrylate (GMA) into the air had stopped releasing the chemical, nearly 48 hours after it first began leaking. That allowed emergency responders to go in and better assess the level of safety in the area.

Brian Kelly, the EPA incident commander, said experts estimate the reaction lasted for 24-26 hours.

They were able to use real-time monitoring and modeling of where the plume would go to make decisions about reducing the size of the evacuation zone.

Data and site safety

The mayor acknowledged that there are still many unanswered questions in regard to the incident. Preliminary air monitoring data gathered by Onterris Response and Recovery, LLC, a private contractor, as well as Toledo Environmental Services and U.S. EPA was released by the city Friday night. Officials said nothing they’ve seen so far indicates it ever rose to dangerous levels.

That data is available at the following links:

The city emphasized that this information is preliminary, has not completed a full quality assurance and quality control review, and may be updated as additional data are validated. Air monitoring remains ongoing.

“There’s no question that when this incident took place and you saw the gas venting, it introduced something into the environment that no one wanted there,” Kapszukiewicz said. “I think what the scientists up here are saying is that the readings that were taken did not reveal a toxic or poisonous level. It never toggled into, in other words: the dosage wasn’t large enough to make the poison, as the old expression goes.”

He elaborated to say that long-term exposure to the chemical at high levels can be cancerous, but based on the data reviewed by the city, the incident didn’t occur at levels to provide a “meaningful negative impact on human health.”

The site will be turned over to the U.S. EPA, which is conducting additional monitoring. The agency brought in what’s called a TAGA bus, a Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer, which can help analyze the air at a granular level. It arrived in Toledo on Friday.

Toledo Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Blake Molnar said his team used multiple drones and meter readings from various agencies to make safety assessments throughout the process. They will continue to use those tools as they look to eventually turn the property back over to MC Tank Transport.

“At this time, we do feel confident that the site is safe, which is why we are all permitted to be here,” Molnar said. “However, we want to maintain and be certain that the protection to the community is not compromised at any point as we transfer this over. And we are waiting on a safety plan to be developed by the cleanup contractor.”

Health information

The Toledo Lucas County Health Department issued guidance for those returning to their homes that were included in the evacuation zone. Anyone with specific health questions can call the department’s frequently asked questions hotline at: 419-779-7089.

Nearly 60 patients were treated for symptoms stemming from the chemical leak, Dr. Brian Kaminski said Friday. He said almost all of them had already been released after treatment, adding that their symptoms were considered relatively minor.

Those who were hospitalized as a result of their symptoms had underlying health conditions that made them susceptible, and most of them had respiratory symptoms. Health officials said that patients’ symptoms were treatable.

“There’s no particular antidote or reversal agent that you would do in a scenario like this. You support the patient, you treat their symptoms and expect that, you know, with these type of exposures that most people are going to recover,” Kaminski said.

We spoke with a University of Toledo Medical Center doctor about the long-term health effects associated with GMA. Watch the full 13+ exclusive video below.

What caused the leak?

The mayor said that the incident unfolded when an employee of the company “introduced a temperature” to the tank while trying to transfer the liquid inside.

“It was a chemical reaction. Almost something you could imagine in a high school chemistry class,” Kapszukiewicz said. “This was not an act of nature. This wasn’t an outside action by someone else that caused this to happen. This was a mistake made by an employee of the company.”

He said the company, MC Tank Transport, accepted responsibility for what happened.

Authorities involved in the briefing also emphasized that there never was an explosion or fire related to the incident.

Local officials lifted evacuation orders Friday and said the chemical release at MC Tank Transport in North Toledo is no longer an emergency.

The Toledo Fire & Rescue Department allowed company employees to re-enter the property at 1266 Progress Ave. around noon on Friday after they confirmed the 5,500-gallon tank of glycidyl methacrylate finished venting into the air late Thursday night — nearly 48 hours after the reaction began.

All residents and businesses previously impacted by the evacuation may return to their homes and places of business, city officials said.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said an MC Tank Transport employee “introduced a temperature level to the tank in the process of trying to transfer the liquid,” causing a chemical reaction that turned the industrial chemical into a gas that released from the tank.

“The company has ... accepted responsibility for what happened. This was not an act of nature, it wasn’t any sort of outside action by someone else that caused this to happen. This was a mistake made by an employee of the company,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

City and county leaders, including Toledo council members, will meet virtually with the company on Monday, Councilman Vanice Williams said. The meeting will not be open to the public.

MC Tank Transport stated in two company news releases that it is fully cooperating with investigators and that its top priority is the health of affected residents.

City officials were joined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest regional director, Anne Vogel, who outlined efforts to continue monitoring the air and oversee the company’s cleanup of the site once a site safety plan is presented.

“We’ve got various tools available to us that we use alongside our partners at the Ohio EPA, the fire department, and the health community to make sure that no stone goes unturned in terms of monitoring and making sure we’re being protective of human health and the environment,” Ms. Vogel said.

TAGA, a highly specialized mobile laboratory

Along with eight monitoring locations within a quarter-mile radius of the facility, the U.S. EPA’s Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer, a mobile laboratory also known as TAGA that analyzes air in real time, was sent to the site Friday.

The city of Toledo expects preliminary air sampling results to show that concentrations of the chemical were too low to cause long-term health effects.

“There’s no doubt that ... extended exposure over a long period of time, at high levels, can be real bad for you — it can be cancerous,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. “Based on the data that we’ve seen, ... it just didn’t occur at levels or dosage levels to provide a long-term, meaningful, negative impact on human health.”

Toledo Fire will remain on scene until the company develops a site safety plan, and once the site is deemed safe, it will be turned over to the company under the oversight of the U.S. EPA. Toledo Fire Batalion Chief Blake Molnar said he anticipates the process “will be a somewhat slow handoff back to the company.”

During an hourlong news conference held almost concurrently at One Government Center, about five miles south of MC Tank Transport and about five miles south of where Mayor Kapszukiewicz and Ms. Vogel spoke, a team of four independent scientists said that the main chemical of concern, glycidyl methacrylate, is no longer detectable in outdoor, ambient air near the site.

The team’s findings were based on all-night air sampling it did in North Toledo.

The foursome included Scott Smith, an independent Massachusetts-based scientist with the Blue Shirt Justice League, a group that does testing at industrial accidents nationally, and three air-quality specialists affiliated with Spectral Systems Integration, of Kansas.

One of them, Mark Thomas, Spectral Systems vice president of operations, spent more than 30 years with the U.S. EPA, managing the agency’s Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology, or ASPECT, from its inception in 2001 until his retirement in 2019. He also spent 10 years as a U.S. EPA on-scene coordinator at emergencies.

Another one, Robert Kroutil, likewise had a long U.S. EPA career, and helped develop software for the ASPECT program at the federal agency. He is a national expert in infrared chemical detection.

The other is a Pittsburgh-based scientist named Phoebe Askelson.

The trio analyzed North Toledo’s air quality late into Thursday evening while Mr. Smith pulled soil samples from the properties of local residents who have granted him permission. The soil samples will take three to five weeks to analyze in a laboratory.

“We’ve already been bombarded by calls,” Mr. Smith said.

Their research is free to each community they visit, with costs covered by an Atlanta-based law firm, the Keenan Law Firm.

Formaldehyde, a cancer-causing byproduct, remains

The air samples, which were analyzed overnight, generated a mixed message.

Although the chemical that grabbed headlines, GMA, can no longer be detected, the team found high levels of a common byproduct of it, formaldehyde, in the air. Though that, too, will eventually dissipate, formaldehyde — just like GMA — is believed to cause cancer among people exposed to it for a long time.

The four scientists said that residents near MC Tank Transport, especially those living within the one-mile mandatory evacuation zone, should be cautious about their indoor air quality because GMA is a heavy chemical known to settle inside kitchen cabinets, basements, and other parts of homes it enters. They urged people to take precautions cleaning dust, by wearing gloves and possibly a face mask, and to wash any clothes they believe might have become contaminated.

Mr. Smith urged anyone showing symptoms of exposure, such as prolonged coughing, shortness of breath, headaches, nosebleeds, and dizziness, to seek help from their doctor or other medical professionals.

Mr. Thomas said it’s a good time to air out homes as a precaution, now that there’s no immediate need for air conditioning or heat during the daytime.

“When in doubt, air your house out,” Mr. Thomas said.

GMA can linger for up to 10 days indoors, Mr. Kroutil said.

“We’re concerned about people going back into their homes in the [evacuation] zone,” he said. “I would want my house checked and analyzed before I go back in.”

First Published October 23, 2026, 8:50 a.m.

A chemical spill in Toledo, Ohio, released a hazardous material into the air, leading officials to issue evacuation orders and warn of a potential explosion risk.

On the night of Oct. 20, a chemical tank at the MC Tank Transport terminal in north Toledo began leaking glycidyl methacrylate, an industrial coating product that is stored as a liquid but has been released into the air as a gas, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said at a news conference on Oct. 21.

Officials issued evacuation orders for hundreds of residents in a 1-mile radius and a larger area received shelter-in-place orders. City officials said the chemical can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, mouth and skin, while overexposure could lead to more serious symptoms like nausea and vomiting.

Lucas County Regional Board of Health Commissioner Karim Baroudi said the chemical is toxic and a carcinogen in long-term exposure, but downplayed the immediate risks to nearby residents.

"It's mostly an irritant at this point," Baroudi said. "It's really toxic if you touch it, if you ingest it. Now we're trying to determine how much of a toxicity is in the air that people are breathing so that we can give better guidance."

Authorities warned that the damaged tank was still emitting the toxic chemical on the morning of Oct. 21 and has "the potential within 12 hours of the incident to be explosive," Kapszukiewicz said. As a result, crews had not yet approached the tank.

Here's what we know about the toxic chemical and its potential health effects.

What is glycidyl methacrylate?

Glycidyl methacrylate is an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics, paints and coatings perform better, according to a statement from MC Tank Transport Inc.

The chemical is stored as a colorless liquid and gives off a fruity odor, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The tank that stores the glycidyl methacrylate in Toledo has a 5,500-gallon capacity, the mayor said. MC Tank takes the chemical, stores it briefly at its Ohio terminal and then transports it, Toledo Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Posadny said. According to the company's website, it specializes in liquid bulk transport.

What are its health impacts?

Glycidyl methacrylate is most toxic in liquid form, city officials said. Touching the liquid can cause first degree burns and severe eye damage, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

In Toledo, residents near the site are at risk of exposure to the chemical's vapors, which still carry potential health risks. Symptoms of exposure include irritation to the eyes, nose, mouth and skin. Overexposure can lead to headaches, dizziness, extreme tiredness, nausea, vomiting and respiratory issues, the city said.

Kapszukiewicz said residents beyond the evacuation and shelter-in-place zones may taste "something unnatural," but said that's not an indication of a toxic level of exposure.

"There is a difference, though, between an annoying or unpleasant taste in your mouth or smell, and a dangerous or toxic amount of exposure," Kapszukiewicz said. "There is no question that we're all kind of smelling and sensing something in the air. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is something that is harming us immediately. There are levels of exposure to something like this."

What should you do if you're exposed to the chemical?

Anyone exposed to the vapors of glycidyl methacrylate should leave the contaminated area and take deep breaths of fresh air, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Those experiencing symptoms such as mild eye, nose, throat or skin irritation should shower or rinse the impacted area and contact a medical professional, according to the City of Toledo. Those experiencing serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, dizziness or confusion should to go the emergency room or call 911, officials said.

Baroudi, the local health commissioner, said at a news conference that residents who experience irritation in their eyes or heavy breathing should "just take a shower for now."

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Lauren Cohen, Akron Beacon Journal

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A ruptured chemical tank billowed a white plume into the air for hours Wednesday, forcing hundreds of residents out of their homes due to the potentially toxic leak and the possibility of an explosion.

More than 50,000 people in Toledo, Ohio, were advised to stay indoors for much of the day until the city lifted a shelter-in-place order in the evening.

City leaders were allowing the chemical to vent instead of trying to stop the leak, saying that would be more dangerous. Videos show a plume still swirling from the tank early Wednesday afternoon, more than 14 hours after the tank began leaking Tuesday night in an industrial area.

Some residents felt irritation in their eyes and throats and sought treatment, and city officials said one sheriff’s deputy who responded to the blast later drove himself to a hospital because he felt unwell.

Mark White Jr., who lives within the affected area, was sleeping with his windows open and woke to what he described as a burning plastic smell. He decided to evacuate to a shelter at an elementary school because he has asthma.

“I don’t know what this chemical can do to my lungs, long term or anything,” White said.

MC Tank Transport said the tank contained glycidyl methacrylate, which it described as “an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics, paints and coatings perform better.”

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said without elaborating that the leak happened because of an error while the material was being transferred.

Mayor says the chemical leak has slowed

Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said Wednesday afternoon there was no reason to panic and that the city was working with state and federal environmental officials.

He said they decided to allow the tank to continue releasing the chemical because there was little threat to the public and that it would be more dangerous to ask first responders to go near the chemical trucking company’s facility where more tanks were stored.

“There’s no question the situation is improving,” said Kapszukiewicz, who added that drones monitoring the leaking tank show its temperature is dropping and that the plume is diminishing.

Still, it could take hours before the tank is safe to approach, he said.

Nearly 1,000 residents were told to evacuate overnight within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius of the leak. A shelter-in-place order for more than 50,000 people covering a 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) radius included neighborhoods along the Lake Erie shoreline and stretched just across the state line into Michigan. By Wednesday evening, the shelter-in-place had been lifted and the evacuation order was cut down to half a mile (0.8 kilometers).

Schools across the city were closed Wednesday, and automaker Stellantis shut down production at its nearby Jeep assembly plant.

Residents worry about chemical’s risks

Health officials said the symptoms reported so far were primarily eye and throat irritation. Testing was ongoing to determine the chemical’s concentration in the air and whether it posed additional health risks.

ProMedica, which operates hospitals and urgent care centers in the Toledo area, said it evaluated about 30 people who reported symptoms that might have been related to the leak. Most were treated and released, the health care provider said.

Residents well beyond the shelter-in-place zone described smelling paint or burning chemicals. City officials tried to assure them that the odors did not indicate there was anything harmful in the air.

Kristine Kowalinski, who lives just outside the affected area, said she was staying inside because she’s sensitive even to smoke from wood burning. She said she’s worried about what’s in the air and on the ground.

“My main concern is how did that affect everything overnight when it was raining down on cars, houses, my garden,” she said.

Kapszukiewicz said the chemical is liquid inside the tank but becomes a gas when released. Officials began worrying early on that the tank, which can hold 5,500 gallons of the chemical, could explode, he said.

Chemical can irritate eyes and cause headaches

People who come into contact with glycidyl methacrylate may feel as if their eyes, nose, mouth and skin are burning, the city fire department said. Overexposure can cause headaches, dizziness, tiredness, nausea and vomiting.

“It’s really toxic if you touch it, if you ingest it,” said Karim Baroudi, director of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. “Now we’re trying to kind of determine how much of a toxicity is in the air that the people are breathing so we can give better guidance.”

Baroudi advised residents to close their windows and that those who “feel irritation in the eyes, heavily breathing, just take a shower for now.” The fire department said those who experience symptoms should contact a medical professional.

Emergency and hazardous material crews were not approaching the tank because of the risk of an explosion, Kapszukiewicz said.

Arkansas-based MC Tank Transport said in a statement the company is working with the fire department and other emergency authorities. Company representatives were on their way to Toledo, Kapszukiewicz said.

“Our immediate and overriding concern is the safety of area residents, emergency responders and our employees,” the company said.

___

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Beatrice Dupuy in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.