Diesel exhaust contains hundreds of components which are emitted in gas or particulate form. The major products of combustion include carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapour; carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons and their derivatives. Diesel combustion releases particulates at a 20 times faster rate than gasoline combustion. The particulates contain elemental carbon, organic compounds adsorbed from fuel and lubricating oil, sulfates from fuel sulfur, and traces of metallic components.
Exposure is mainly from diesel motor vehicles, but can also occur from ships and railway locomotives as well as stationary sources. Truck drivers, miners and toll booth workers are particularly exposed.
Operating conditions such as engine speed, load, fuel consumption and emission controls impact how much particulate matter a diesel engine emits. Heavy duty engines emit more than light duty engines.
Diesel Exhaust Particulates. Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program. http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s069dies.pdf.
More than one million workers are exposed to diesel exhaust and risk adverse health implications.
Diesel Exhaust. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. November 4, 2009. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/dieselexhaust/index.html.
Children breathe 50% more air per pound of body weight than adults making them more susceptible to diesel exhaust fumes from school buses.
What You Should Know about Diesel Exhaust and School Bus Idling. US Environmental Protection Agency. April 2003. http://www.epa.gov/oms/retrofit/documents/f03005.pdf.
If you live near a busy freeway or near an industrial site that uses diesel fuel to power equipment, you may be exposed to exhaust. Employees who work with diesel powered equipment, drives trucks or work near high traffic areas such as toll booths have a higher risk of exposure.
Emissions can be reduced by improving engine design, using particle traps and using catalytic converters.
What You Should Know About Reducing Diesel Exhaust from School Buses. US Environmental Protection Agency. November 2003. http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/documents/420f03038.pdf.
Diesel Retrofit Technology Verification: designed to help fleet operators, air quality planners in state/local government and retrofit manufacturers understand this program and obtain the information they need to create effective retrofit projects.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/retrofit/
What You Should Know about Diesel Exhaust and School Bus Idling. US Environmental Protection Agency. April 2003. http://www.epa.gov/oms/retrofit/documents/f03005.pdf.
Diesel Exhaust: What You Need to Know. University of California, Los Angeles. August 2003. http://www.losh.ucla.edu/losh/resources-publications/fact-sheets/diesel_english.pdf.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
P.O. Box 12233, MD K3-16
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina USA 27709-2233
(919) 541-3345
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
1200 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington DC 20460
202-260-2090
http://www.epa.gov/
HealthySeat. Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool.
http://www.epa.gov/schools/