Diesel fuel & Health in America
A new study released by the Clean Air Task Force in the U.S., for the first time estimates the incidence of death and diease from dirty diesel emissions. The report estimates that 21,000 people a year die prematurely as a result of exposure to diesel emissions. Other serious adverse health impacts ……”include tens of thousands of heart attacks, asthma attacks, and other respiratory ailments that can lead to days missed at work and at school.” The report emphasises that technology is already available to clean up this filthy air pollution by at least 90%.
Key findings include:
* Reducing diesel fine particle emissions 50 percent by 2010, 75 percent by 2015, and 85 percent by 2020 would save nearly 100,000 lives between now and 2030. These are additional lives saved above and beyond the projected impact of EPA’s new engine regulations.* Fine particle pollution from diesels shortens the lives of nearly 21,000 people each year. This includes almost 3,000 early deaths from lung cancer.
* Tens of thousands of Americans suffer each year from asthma attacks (over 400,000), heart attacks (27,000), and respiratory problems associated with fine particles from diesel vehicles. These illnesses result in thousands of emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and lost work days. Together with the toll of premature deaths, the health damages from diesel fine particles will total $139 billion in 2010.
* Nationally, diesel exhaust poses a cancer risk that is 7.5 times higher than the combined total cancer risk from all other air toxics.
* In the U.S., the average lifetime nationwide cancer risk due to diesel exhaust is over 350 times greater than the level U.S. EPA considers to be “acceptable” (i.e., one cancer per million persons over 70 years).
* Residents from more than two-thirds of all U.S. counties face a cancer risk from diesel exhaust greater than 100 deaths per million population. People living in eleven urban counties face diesel cancer risks greater than 1,000 in a million – one thousand times the level EPA says is acceptable.
* People who live in metropolitan areas with a high concentration of diesel vehicles and traffic feel their impacts most acutely. The risk of lung cancer from diesel exhaust for people living in urban areas is three times that for those living in rural areas.
One very important point to remember about these U.S. studies is that Australian diesel is ‘dirtier’ than many other developed countries due to the high sulphur content. It’s that sulphur content in diesel fuel that determines the particulate concentrations in the emissions. The sulphur content in Australian diesel currently stands at 500ppm. Particulate traps and catalytic converters are extremely inefficient at anything much above 10ppm. According to an oil industry spokesperson, the technology for reducing the sulphur content in Australian diesel fuel is already available. However, industry claims that it will add substantially to the price of diesel, which was the same argument used overseas and failed to impress anyone.So what is the government doing here? The sulphur content is due to drop to 50ppm in 2006, which is still way too high for the particulate traps, and the excise is being reduced. They are also introducing an excise on LPG. Someone in government has failed to grasp the very basics about air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and resource availability. Once again they are paying only lip service to issues of health and sustainability.
The report can be accessed at http://www.catf.us/publications/view/83
