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Health Hazards of Diesel Exhaust The Montana Report
The report issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Bureau of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry is a more detailed report than the previous one by the State of California on the hazards of diesel exhaust. This report goes into more detail on diesel exhaust exposure and ways to prevent such exposure. There were also animal studies conducted and their findings reported.
Diesel engines have become the most widely used portable power source in recent years. This had caused increased exposure to diesel fumes and exhaust more prevalent to workers and pedestrians alike because of the wide spread use of diesel engines in the transportation sector of our economy.
Diesel exhaust has been shown to contain 20 to 100 times more fine particles than exhaust produced from a comparable size gasoline engine. The fine particles carry with them the known cancer causing chemicals polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The noxious gases produced are also damaging to humans and the surrounding environment. These include nitrous oxides, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, benzene, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
The short-term effects of exposure to diesel exhaust are irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat along with light-headedness, heartburn, headaches, weakness, numbness and tingling in one’s extremities, tightness of the chest, wheezing and vomiting.
The long-term effects have had fewer studies conducted but all of them did find that there were known human carcinogens present in diesel exhaust and should be treated as such. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health concluded this after its studies on both humans and animals. In addition, the institute concluded that it may also take years after the first exposure to diesel exhaust for cancer to develop. Other studies have suggested that prolong exposure of subjects may be more likely to have chronic respiratory symptoms like persistent cough, mucous build up, bronchitis and a reduced lung capacity.
Consider a NO SMOKE Diesel Exhaust System when applying for your AFG Grant.
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