Dirty Diesel
Yesterday I sat in traffic at a stop light, the truck in front of me spewing a noxious diesel cloud. It made me think of a recent report, No Escape From Diesel, I read from the Clean Air Task Force.
“Anyone who commutes in any form of transportation is exposed to unhealthy levels of diesel exhausts,” according to the report, and commuting—even by foot in cities—is responsible for 60% of Americans’ daily exposure to ultra-fine particles "in spite of the fact that the average American spends less than 6% of his or her day commuting."
Ultrafine particles embed deeply in the lungs, and are associated with lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, asthma, increased allergies, increased susceptibility to lung infections (colds and bacterial infections), as well as slowed fetal growth, infant mortality, and DNA damage. Now, an interesting study just released by researchers at UCLA also shows that these fumes are particularly dangerous for people with high cholesterol levels and arteriosclerosis (or hardening of the arteries), because the particles emitted in diesel exhaust act as free radicals, and when mixed with the low density lipids that are often associated with high cholesterol, they activate the genes that promote cellular inflammation — a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, according to Dr. Jesus Araujo, UCLA assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine.
The Clean Air Task Force says that commuters using light rail or electric trains have the lowest exposure. But not everyone can commute that way, so the Task Force suggests that commuters:
1. Try to avoid the roads that carry the highest numbers of heavy trucks,
2. If you are forced to commute with heavy diesel truck traffic, close the windows and put your air system on recirculation.
The Task Force is also pushing EPA to require all diesel truck engines to have diesel particulate filters installed when engines are overhauled--an effort they say will cost between $2,000 and $7,000 per engine, but that will reduce particulates by up to 85%.
“Anyone who commutes in any form of transportation is exposed to unhealthy levels of diesel exhausts,” according to the report, and commuting—even by foot in cities—is responsible for 60% of Americans’ daily exposure to ultra-fine particles "in spite of the fact that the average American spends less than 6% of his or her day commuting."
Ultrafine particles embed deeply in the lungs, and are associated with lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, asthma, increased allergies, increased susceptibility to lung infections (colds and bacterial infections), as well as slowed fetal growth, infant mortality, and DNA damage. Now, an interesting study just released by researchers at UCLA also shows that these fumes are particularly dangerous for people with high cholesterol levels and arteriosclerosis (or hardening of the arteries), because the particles emitted in diesel exhaust act as free radicals, and when mixed with the low density lipids that are often associated with high cholesterol, they activate the genes that promote cellular inflammation — a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, according to Dr. Jesus Araujo, UCLA assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine.
The Clean Air Task Force says that commuters using light rail or electric trains have the lowest exposure. But not everyone can commute that way, so the Task Force suggests that commuters:
1. Try to avoid the roads that carry the highest numbers of heavy trucks,
2. If you are forced to commute with heavy diesel truck traffic, close the windows and put your air system on recirculation.
The Task Force is also pushing EPA to require all diesel truck engines to have diesel particulate filters installed when engines are overhauled--an effort they say will cost between $2,000 and $7,000 per engine, but that will reduce particulates by up to 85%.
Labels: air pollution, diesel
posted by Carol Ekarius @ 2:02 PM
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