TEUTOPOLIS, Ill. (WAND) - A tanker carrying anhydrous ammonia was involved in a crash in Teutopolis on Friday, causing the chemical to be released into the environment nearby. 

Local families were evacuated due to risk of exposure and were only allowed back into their homes after environmental officials tested the air quality. Now, community members are worried about the effects of this chemical on their health. 

Aaron Martin, the Toxicology Section Chief at the Illinois Department of Public Health, says if residents haven't already felt the impacts of ammonia exposure, they will likely be fine. 

"This chemical is very irritating, and it has a very noticeable short term effect," said Martin. "Ammonia isn't known to be associated with cancer so the risk for long term health issues for most residents who had either no exposure or a lower level of exposure is probably very minimal." 

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Martin explained that the chemical was transported in liquid form, but when the tank was damaged, the liquid vaporized in the air. This is where experts say it poses the biggest risk to humans.

"It really wants to be dissolved in water, so it will go and find water that's in the air, or if you've inhaled it, it's going to start going after all of the membranes in places like your respiratory tract, it's going to be kind of greedy and want to be dissolved in that water," said Dr. Miranda Andrews, a Chemistry Instructor at UIS. 

Dr. Andrews went on to explain that in trying to connect with water in your cells, the ammonia will tear the connections in the cells and cause damage that is similar to a burn.

IDPH and the Effingham County Health Department are working on testing the water in wells near the crash site to test for ammonia concentration. 

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