Diesel exhausts do cause cancer, says WHO

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BBC News - Diesel exhausts do cause cancer, says WHO

By James Gallagher
Health and science reporter, BBC News

The World Health Organization previously labelled diesel exhausts as probably carcinogenic
Exhaust fumes from diesel engines do cause cancer, a panel of experts working for the World Health Organization says.

It concluded that the exhausts were definitely a cause of lung cancer and may also cause tumours in the bladder.

It based the findings on research in high-risk workers such as miners, railway workers and truck drivers.

However, the panel said everyone should try to reduce their exposure to diesel exhaust fumes.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the World Health Organization, had previously labelled diesel exhausts as probably carcinogenic to humans.

IARC has now labelled exhausts as a definite cause of cancer, although it does not compare how risky different carcinogens are. Diesel exhausts are now in the same group as carcinogens ranging from wood chippings to plutonium and sunlight to alcohol.

It is thought people working in at-risk industries have about a 40% increased risk of developing lung cancer.

Dr Christopher Portier, who led the assessment, said: "The scientific evidence was compelling and the Working Group's conclusion was unanimous, diesel engine exhaust causes lung cancer in humans.

"Given the additional health impacts from diesel particulates, exposure to this mixture of chemicals should be reduced worldwide."

The impact on the wider population, which is exposed to diesel fumes at much lower levels and for shorter periods of time, is unknown.

Dr Kurt Straif, also from IARC, said: "For most of the carcinogens when there is high exposure the risk is higher, when there is lower exposure the risk is lower."

There have been considerable efforts to clean up diesel exhausts. Lower sulphur fuel and engines which burn the fuel more efficiently are now in use.

The UK Department of Health said: "We will carefully consider this report. Air pollutants are a significant public health concern, we are looking at this issue as part of our plans to improve public health."

Cancer Research UK said employers and workers should take appropriate action to minimise exposure to diesel fumes in the workplace.

But director of cancer information Dr Lesley Walker said the overall number of lung cancers caused by diesel fumes was "likely to be a fraction of those caused by smoking tobacco".

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OLD ARTICLE

Diesel exhaust more carcinogenic than petrol

SOUMYA SARKAR
Think twice before you choose a diesel car over a petrol car. Swedish consultants at Ecotraffic have found carcinogenic potency levels of diesel exhaust from Indian cars to be more than twice that from petrol cars. It has also been found that diesel emission is not only cancer-causing, but can also trigger serious allergies and affect the poor the most.
In a study conducted for the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Swedish consultants Peter Ahlvik and Ake Brandberg at Ecotraffic have found that after taking into account all the toxic components in emissions, the cancer potency level of diesel cars is double that of petrol cars in India.

According to the study, if particulate emissions alone are compared from different car models, then the cancerous effect of diesel particulate matter (PM) from one new diesel car is equal to that of 24 new petrol cars and 81 compressed natural gas (CNG) cars on roads.

According to CSE, the results of this study are further supported by evidence from another study conducted by the German federal environment agency (UBA). UBA has found diesel to be several dozen times more cancer-causing than petrol. Diesel particles alone constitute as much as 95 per cent of the cancer-causing potential of all diesel emissions, according to the UBA report. Differences in the cancer potency of vehicles can arise because of different fuel quality, engine technology and local temperatures.

What further adds to the risk from diesel fumes is their ability to trigger and exacerbate a wide range of non-cancerous effects, including allergy, asthma and other respiratory problems. According to a CSE statement, the evolving science of pollution has completely eluded Indian air quality regulators. They have failed to develop precise strategies to phase in cleaner fuels and technology by taking into account these health parameters of risk assessment, says CSE.

According to the Ecotraffic study, one diesel car is equivalent to two petrol cars if all gases emitted by the vehicles are taken into account. However, if only particulate emission is considered, the carcinogenic effect of one new diesel car is equivalent to 24 new petrol cars on the road, according to the study conducted by Ahlvik and Brandberg.

The Ecotraffic study compared the cancer potency of cars running on a wide range of fuels-diesel, petrol, methane (CNG is 80 per cent methane) and alcohols (methanol and ethanol). The most alarming finding of the study is that the cancer potency of diesel particulate is much higher compared to the total effect of all carcinogenic compounds present in petrol vehicles.

Ethanol, methanol and methane (CNG) are definitely cleaner options than diesel and petrol. The results confirm that although fuels like ethanol and methanol are cleaner than petrol and have lower cancer potency, the best option is CNG. Liquefied petroleum gas has not been investigated, but it is likely that this fuel would be somewhere between alcohols (methanol and ethanol) and CNG, say Ahlvik and Brandberg.

In a diesel engine, the combustion system itself leads to high emissions of soot and particles. Even if petrol is substituted in a diesel engine, the smoke and particulate emissions would be almost as high. The only possible solution to significantly reduce particulate emissions would be to use particulate filters.

However, according to CSE, since such filters are not likely to be introduced on a large scale in Europe before 2005-and presumably later in India-this drawback inherent in diesel cars is likely to persist for the next decade.