Diesel Health Risks

Diesel exhaust has been identified as a likely or known carcinogen. Research is coming to the forefront that shows exposure to diesel fumes increases the risk of cancer.

The deadly effects of breathing diesel fumes came into sharp focus in 2005 when the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) released a report estimating that diesel fumes kill about 21,000 U.S. citizens each year.

Furthermore, diesel fumes cause 27,000 non-fatal heart attacks and 410,000 asthma attacks in U.S. adults each year, plus roughly 12,000 cases of chronic bronchitis, 15,000 hospital admissions, 2.4 million lost-work days, and 14 million restricted activity days.

And that is almost certainly not the worst of it. The Clean Air Task Force report cites numerous studies revealing that diesel soot:

• Degrades the immune system (the system that protects us all from bacteria, viruses and cancers)
• Interferes with our hormones, reducing sperm production, masculinizing female rats, altering the development of baby rats (changing their bones, thymus, and nervous systems), modifying their adrenal and reproductive hormones
• Causes serious, permanent impairment of the nervous system in diesel-exposed railroad workers
• Induces allergic reactions, not limited to asthma, causing children to miss thousands upon thousands of school-days - a primary cause of school dropout, consequent low self-esteem, and subsequent life- failure