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Home My WebLink AboutOEHHA Public Information Fact Sheet OEIDIA Public Infonnation - Fact Sheets Page 1 of 4 to '1': \ " - California Home Friday, t "II" .' .,.'.<"'}~/.:'< ..".'P..'........... . . ''''.'.-". ,..,-"".~.'.'.\.. ,-':-$.:--<'.'. . . ..., ~........'~ - ."." . , 0" :. .:. . . .,'::r \.,-.::. ...' - ": .+":'": ,:''',1:/'' :,'..:,,' '\;;- ~. OEHHA Home Air ~ OEHHA ~ :::::e:~:::lth ., ... . .' .' .. 0.1I~../"......j;tf~; (){fice of Blvironmental Health Hazard Assessment -:':;-;':::"'Cl1J~':,::' ""';:'i:':"':"~ Ecotoxicologv ...... . ~'-.., . Public Information - Fact Sheets Air Site links Education Acute RELs Environmental Indicators Health Effects of Diesel Exhaust .~ Table of all A Fish A fact sheet by CaIlEPA's Office of Environmental Health Chronic RELs Pesticides Hazard Assessment and the American lung Association .. Table of all C Proposition 65 Download a PDF copy of this fact sheet P bli 1 f f . . . Criteria Air Pol u c norma Ion Diesel fuel is widely used throughout our society.. It powers the Risk Assessment trucks that d.eliver products to our communities, the bu.ses that Diesel Exhaust Water carry us to school and work, the agricultural equipment 1hat -.. plants and harvests our food, and the backup generators that Environmental OEHHA E-mail ..dl:ct...Ftyd.....lt..1 d ~ Notification List can prav. e e e. net. .unng emergenCIes.. '. IS a so use;: ,or .. . . many other applications. Diesel engines have historically been Hot Spots Guic Proposlt!on 8~ E-mail more versatile and cheaper to run tha:n gasoline engines or :tt- Cancer Pote. Notification List other sources of power.. Unfortunately, the exhaust from these... Exposure As engines contains substances that can pose a risk to h:uman Stochastic health.. .. Risk AsseSSf Methodology In 1998, the Califomia Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) MTBE and Ethc completed a comprehensive health assessment of diesel .. .. exhaust. This assessment formed the basis for a decision by TOXIC Air Cont the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to formally identify . .. . particles in diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant that may TOXICity Crlteri pose ~. t~reat to h~ma~ health" The A~rican Lung ... Outside Air Lin ASSOCIatIon of Callfomla (ALAe) and Its 15 local aSSOCIations Reference lir work to prevent lung disease and promote lung health.. Since Help! 1904, the American Lung Association has been fighting lung disease through education, community service, ad'vocacy and Site Map research., Tell Us What VI This fad sheet by OEHHA and ALAe provides information: on health hazards associated with diesel exhaust.. Contact OEHHJ What is diesel exhaust? Cal/EPA Home Diesel exhaust is produced when an engine bums diesel fuel. It is a complex mixture of thousands of gases and fine particles (commonly known as soot) that contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants.. These include many known or suspected cancer-causing substances, such as benzene, http://www_oehha.ca. gOY /public _info/facts! dieselfacts.html 4/28/2006 /"- /,- OEHHA Public Infonnation - Fact Sheets Page2of4 . . .. .("". ). arsenic and formaldehyde. It also contains other harmful pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (a component of urban smog).. How are people exposed to diesel exhaust? Diesel exhaust particles and gases are suspended in the air, so exposure to this pollutant occurs whenever a person breathes air that contains these substances. The prevalence of diesel-powered engines makes it almost impossible to avoid exposure to diesel exhaust or its byproducts, regardless of whether you live in a rural or urban setting. However, people living and working in urban and industrial areas are more likely to be exposed to this pollutant. Those spending time on or near roads and freeways, truck loading and unloading operations, operating diesel-powered machinery or working near diesel equipment face exposure to higher levels of diesel exhaust and face higher health risks. What are the health effects of diesel exhaust? As we breathe, the toxic gases and small partides of diesel exhaust are drawn into the lungs.. The microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair and are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, where they contribute to a range of health problems. Diesel exhaust and many individual substances contained in it (including arsenic, benzene) formaldehyde and nickel) have the potential to contribute to mutations in cells that can lead to cancer~ In fact, long-term exposure to diesel exhaust particles poses the highest cancer risk of any toxic air contaminant evaluated by OEHHA. ARB estimates that about 70 percent of the cancer risk that the average Califomian faces from breathing toxic air pollutants stems from diesel exhaust particles. In its comprehensive assessment of diesel exhaust, OEHHA analyzed more than 30 studies of people who worked around diesel equipment, including truck drivers, railroad workers and equipment operators.. The studies showed these workers were more likely to develop lung cancer than workers who were not exposed to diesel emissions~ These studies provide strong evidence that long-term occupational exposure to diesel exhaust increases the risk of lung cancer.. Using information from OEHHA's assessment, ARB estimates that diesel-particle levels measured in California's air in 2000 could cause. 540 "excess'. cancers (beyond what would occur jf there were no diesel particles in the air) in a population of 1 million people over a 70-year lifetime~ Other researchers and scientific organizations, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, have calculated cancer risks from diesel exhaust that are similar to those developed by OEHHA and ARB. http://www~oehha~ca.gov/public jnfo/factsl dieselfacts~html 4/28/2006 OEHHA Public Infonnation - Fact Sheets Page 3 of4 . 1- . ,l ) Exposure to diesel exhaust can have immediate health effects. Diesel exhaust can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, and it can cause coughs, headaches, lightheadedness and nausea. In studies with human volunteers, diesel exhaust particles made people with allergies more. susceptible to the materials to which they are allergic, such as dust and pollen. Exposure to diesel exhaust also causes inflammation in the lungs, which may aggravate chronic respiratory symptoms and increase the frequency or intensity of asthma attacks. Diesel engines are a major source of fine-particle pollution. The elderly and people with emphysema, asthma, and chronic heart and lung disease are especially sensitive to fine-particle pollution. Numerous studies have linked elevated partide levels in the air to increased hospital admissions. emergency room visits, asthma attacks and premature deaths among those suffering from respiratory problems. Because children's lungs and respiratory systems are still developing, they are also more susceptible than healthy adults to fine particles. Exposure to fine partides is associated with increased frequency of childhood illnesses and can also reduce lung function in children. Like all fuel-burning equipment, diesel engines produce nitrogen oxides, a common air pollutant in California.. Nitrogen oxides can damage lung tissue, lower the bodys resistance to respiratory infection and worsen chronic lung diseases, such as asthma. They alS(> react with other pollutants in the atmosphere to form ozone, a major component of smog. What is being done to reduce the health risks from diesel exhaust? Improvements to diesel fuel and diesel engines have already reduced emissions of some of the pollutants associated with diesel exhaust However, diesel exhaust is still one of the most widespread and toxic substances in California's air. ARB's Diesel Risk Reduction Plan, when fully implemented, will result in a 75 percent reduction in particle emissions from diesel equipment by 2010 (compared to 2000 levels), and an 85 percent reduction by 2020. The plan calfs for the use of cleaner-burning diesel fuel, retrofitting of existing engines with particle-trapping filters, and the use in new diesel engines of advanced technologies that produce nearly 90 percent fewer particle emissions, as well as the use of altemative fuels. The use of other fuels, such as natural gas, propane and electricity offer alternatives to diesel fuel. All of them produce fewer polluting emissions than current formulations of diesel fuel. As a result of ARB and local air-quality regulations, public transit agencies throughout California are using increasing numbers of passenger buses that operate with alternative fuels or retrofitted equipment. http://www.oehha.ca.gov/public_info/facts/dieselfacts.html 4/28/2006 OEllliA Public Information - Fact Sheets Page 4 of 4 .. ... ., ,,1: t For further information Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment 10011 Street, P.O. Box 4010, Sacramento, CA 95812-4010 (916) 324-7572 www.oehha.ca.gov Air Resources Board 10011 Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (800) 363-7664 www.arb.ca.gov American Lung Association of California 921 11th Street, Suite 700, Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 442-4446 For your local office, call (800) LUNG-USA www. californial ung. org (c) 2003 State of California Conditions of Use/Privacy http://www.oehha.ca.gov/public_info/facts!dieselfacts.html 4/28/2006