World Health Organization Deems Diesel Fumes as 'Carcinogenic'

The World Health Organization (WHO) have moved the status of diesel fumes from the ‘probable carcinogen’ category to the ‘carcinogen’ category. Of course we are aware that diesel exhaust fumes, and in fact fumes in general are bad for one’s health, however, WHO consider this change as a very important one, given the fact that diesel is gaining (maybe too much) popularity around the world at an ever increasing rate.

Final studies before the announcement were made in the French city of Lyon, where scientists analyzed, among other cases, one involving 12,000 miners which had considerably higher risk of developing lung cancer due to prolonged exposure to burnt diesel. The decision was taken with the support of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRAC) and both institutions concluded that, despite the fact that everybody suffers the effects of diesel fumes to a certain extent, some categories of people are more exposed to them than others, these being pedestrians on the street, ship passengers and crews, railroad workers, truck drivers, mechanics, miners and people operating heavy machinery.

This is the first revision of the status of diesel fumes since 1980 when it was originally added to the category of ‘probable carcinogens’. We need to keep in mind, though, that the low-sulphur diesel sold in Europe, coupled with the upcoming Euro 6 and the widespread use of particulate filters, we reckon that we can still use diesel in the future, alongside EVs, fueled by a diesel substitute easily obtainable from renewable sources - we just need to find it first.

Story via nextgreencar.com