Diesel emissions do cause cancer
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DIESEL EXHAUST emissions cause cancer in humans, according to The World Health Organisation (WHO), which has upgraded the risk level it attaches to diesel exhaust.
WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has included diesel exhaust on its Group 2A list of substances “probably carcinogenic to humans” since 1988. However, recent evidence has persuaded IARC to reclassify diesel exhaust, adding it to its Group 1 list of substances “carcinogenic to humans”.
This decision was influenced by the results of a US study of exposure to diesel emissions in underground miners. Published in March, this study showed an increased risk of death from lung cancer in miners exposed to emissions from diesel-engined plant and trucks.
Dr Christopher Portier, chairman of the IARC working group, says: “Given the additional health impacts from diesel particulates, exposure to this mixture of chemicals should be reduced worldwide.” Petrol engine emissions remain on the Group 2B list of substances “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.