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Home , Diesel exhaust

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January 2020

1 TOXIC FACTS B Y N O W , you may have heard that is toxic, and contains over 40 such as PM2.5, black , AND SINCE OREGON , , carbon ENVIRONMENTAL dioxide, , and C O U N C I L published its Dirt on . But what you Diesel report in 2016,[4] new may not have known is that scientific evidence deepens recent scientific studies all understanding of how diesel impacts show that the health and health and points to additional harm climate impacts of air from generally and pollution are worse than diesel pollution specifically: experts initially thought. Cardiac Arrest: A new 2020 study found that there is a 1-4% W E H A V E known for a increase of cardiac arrest long time that diesel exhaust is associated with every 10 μg/m3 toxic. It is linked to: (micrograms per cubic meter) Cancer[1] increase in PM2.5 exposure.[5] Higher risk of stroke Hair loss: linked in a 2019 study Cognitive impairment and by the American Thoracic Alzheimer's Society.[6] Asthma attacks, more severe Neurological diseases, dementia asthma symptoms and and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: respiratory illnesses[2] [7] Worsened allergies linked in a 2019 study.  Impaired lung growth in Autism: a 2018 study found children, low-birth weight prenatal exposure can cause [8] and premature birth[3] austim-like behaviors.  Birth anomalies Another study from 2019 Male infertility indicated that almost every cell Lung disease. in the body may be affected by air pollution.[9]

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What makes diesel exhaust so deadly is that it emits particulate matter—tiny sooty particles called PM2.5, 100 times thinner than a human hair. Because these particles are so small, they can avoid all of the body’s natural defenses. They are inhaled deeply into the lungs and absorbed into the bloodstream where they can impact all of the organ systems in the body. More than 40 hazardous air pollutants (such as benzene, arsenic and formaldehyde) are also attached to these particles.

A 2019 study by the International Council on Clean Transportation concluded that 385,000 people worldwide died prematurely from pollution caused by vehicle exhaust emissions, with almost 50% of those deaths caused specifically by diesel emissions. Here in Oregon, diesel exhaust prematurely kills an estimated 460 Oregonians, costs over 25,000 lost work days, and costs the state $3.5 billion, every year.[10] It is responsible for 154 heart attacks; 5,376 asthma in children; 119 asthma hospital visits for children; 5,652 respiratory symptoms in children.[11]

A 2020 study found that there is no “safe” level of air pollution.[12] Cancer risks among drivers, railroad workers, and heavy-equipment operators has been found to be 40% higher than the average population.[13]

145 119 5,37 6 5,652 25,910 Heart Asthma Worsened Respiratory Lost attacks hospital asthma in symptoms in work visits children children days

3 DIESEL CONTRIBUTES TO Because of CLIMATE CHANGE incomplete combustion, diesel Cutting diesel saves releases what’s called “black lives, money and carbon.” It’s a potent climate change contributor to climate On a national level, the change because it absorbs EPA estimates that solar radiation and converts lowering diesel emissions would prevent 8,300 it to heat. It also inuences premature deaths, 9,500+ cloud formation and hospitalizations and save impacts regional circulation 1.5 million work days and $296 billion per year and rainfall patterns. Black nationally. [16] carbon has a warming impact on climate 460- In Oregon, 1.6 billion 1,500 times stronger than could be saved a year in [14] avoidable public health CO2 per unit of mass. impacts including While is a very treatment for illness, potent climate forcer, it is hospitalizations, lost also short-lived, and only work days and [17] remains in the premature death. for days or weeks. This We must do all we can to means that short-term reduce diesel exhaust and reductions in diesel black other air pollutants from transportation, carbon emissions can help smokestacks and reduce temperatures in the chimneys. near-term while we mitigate long-lived greenhouse gas emissions.[15]

4 SOURCES: [1] Diesel is recognized as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization and International Association for Research on Cancer. WHO Press Release (2012), available at https://www.iarc.fr/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/pr213_E.pdf. [2] Yaguang, Wei, et. al. Short Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Hospital Admission Risks and Costs in the Medicare Population: Time Stratified, Case Crossover Study, BMJ 2019; 367 Nov. 2019), available at https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6258; https://www.portlandoregon.gov/brfs/article/733313. [3] Multnomah County Office of Sustainability, Diesel Pollution: Bad for Oregon’s Health (2018), available at https://www.portlandoregon.gov/brfs/article/733313. [4] Oregon Environmental Council, Dirt on Diesel (2016), available at https://oeconline.org/wp- content/uploads/2016/05/Diesel_2016.pdf. [5] Zhao, B., et. al. Short Term Exposure to Ambient Fine Particulate Matter and Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Nationwide Case-crossover Study in Japan, The Lancet Planetary Health (Vol: 4, Issue 1) (Jan. 2020), available at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30262-1/fulltext; See also University of Sydney Press Release, Air Pollution Can Be Heart Stopping: Lancet Planetary Paper (2020), available at https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uos-api012420.php [6] Air Pollution Linked to Hair Loss, New Research Reveals (Oct. 2019), available at https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-10/sh-apl100719.php [7] Medical News Today, Diesel Exhaust May Raise Risk of Neurological Disease (Feb. 2018), available at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321057.php#1 [8] Chang, Y.C. Prenatal and Early-life Diesel Exhaust Exposure Causes Autism-like Behavioral Changes in Mice, Part Fibre Toxicol 15(1):18 (April 2018), available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29678176. [9] Yaguang, Wei, et. al. Short term exposure to fine particulate matter and hospital admission risks and costs in the Medicare population: time stratified, case crossover study, BMJ 2019; 367 (Nov. 2019), available at https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6258. [10] OEC, Dirt on Diesel Report; DEQ, Concerns About Exhaust (revised 2015) at p. 7, available at https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/DieselEffectsReport.pdf. [11]DEQ, The Concerns About Diesel Exhaust: Health Effects from Diesel Exhaust Exposure (White Paper), Table 1 (2015) at p. 4 [12] Zhao, B., et. al. SShort Term Exposure to Ambient Fine Particulate Matter and Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Nationwide Case-crossover Study in Japan, The Lancet Planetary Health (Vol: 4, Issue 1) (Jan. 2020), available at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30262-1/fulltext. [13] State of California. (1998). Part B: Health Risk Assessment for Diesel Exhaust. California Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/dieseltac/part_b.pdf; See also and Vehicle Exhaust in Trucking Industry Workers, Environ Health Perspect. (Oct. 2008); 116(10): 1327–1332, available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2569090/. [14] Climate and Clean Air Coalition, Black Carbon and Co-pollutants from Incomplete Combustion, available at https://ccacoalition.org/en/slcps/black-carbon. [15] Green Energy Institute, Deconstructing Diesel: A Concise Guide (April 2019) at p. 2, available at https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/28011-deconstructing-diesel-concise-guide. [16] DEQ, The Concerns About Diesel Exhaust: Health Effects from Diesel Exhaust Exposure (2015) at p. 9 (citing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Regulatory Impact Analysis: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards and Highway Control Requirements, Washington DC (2000))). [17] DEQ, The Concerns About Diesel Exhaust: Health Effects from Diesel Exhaust Exposure (2015) at p. 7.

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