Updated
Experts at the World Health Organisation (WHO) say diesel engine exhaust fumes can cause cancer in humans.
They say they belong in the same potentially deadly category as asbestos, arsenic and mustard gas.
After a week-long meeting, the International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassified diesel exhausts from its group of probable carcinogens, to its group of substances that have definite links to cancer.
It says diesel emissions cause lung cancer and increase the risk of bladder cancer.
They say their decision was unanimous and based on "compelling" scientific evidence.
The director of New York's Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project, Rich Kassel, has told CNN the WHO has confirmed what has been suspected for some time.
"Anybody who lives in Beijing, Mexico, New York or any congested city has probably felt the feeling of holding their breath when the bus pulls away from the curb leaving you in a ... puff of black smoke," he said.
"This study basically confirms that we're right to hold our breath when the bus pulls away."
The pollution that we care about from diesel - buses, trucks and other diesel engines - is technically called particulate matter. We all know it is soot. It's fine, fine particles that are small enough to get past our throat, past our lungs into the deepest part, the deepest of our lungs, where they trigger asthma attacks, bronchitis, emphysema, heart disease and now of course we've learned cancer."
The WHO has acknowledged tougher fuel regulation has led to improved diesel quality and trucks do not billow big clouds of soot so often anymore.
But it says it is not yet clear whether these changes have reduced the risks.
The Cancer Council's chief executive, Professor Ian Olver, says the WHO also has not confirmed what levels of exposure cause cancer.
"Most of the data in the world relates to occupational exposure, such as diesel equipment in mines, or transport, particularly railway workers, exposed to diesel," he said.
"So the first group that we ought to be looking at are those that [are exposed] to the heavy diesel output machinery."
Professor Olver says there is no data available for the levels of exposure in cities.
"The difficulty is that all the pollutants, whether it is a petrol engine or a diesel engine, are all mixed together and that is why the data upon which this was based had to be the more specialised sort of high-level exposure of various occupations," he said.
Andrew Bourne has been in the diesel fuel injection industry for more than 30 years, and runs a diesel business in Toowoomba in Queensland.
"We're certainly dealing with emissions every day," he said.
"The machines that we see coming through our business have health problems with either the engine or the fuel system and as a result of that, often their emissions are one of the main telltales.
But he says although his workplace may be more exposed to exhaust than most - his workers' general health is fine.
"It's not as if we actively breathe in exhaust fumes. When we are testing vehicles, we tend to try and avoid it [and have] an open-air area to do that," he said.
Mr Bourne says the WHO's announcement is a good reminder.
"Perhaps we might be more aware. We already do take measures to protect ourselves from those fumes," he said.
"We direct exhaust fumes outside of our building through piping from the exhaust. Perhaps with these findings we might be a little more careful with making sure that we evacuate that gas more actively."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-13/diesel-fumes-carcinogenic/4068414
LONDON -- Diesel fumes cause cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer agency declared Tuesday, a ruling it said could make exhaust as important a public health threat as secondhand smoke.
The risk of getting cancer from diesel fumes is small, but since so many people breathe in the fumes in some way, the science panel said raising the status of diesel exhaust to carcinogen from "probable carcinogen" was an important shift.
"It's on the same order of magnitude as passive smoking," said Kurt Straif, director of the IARC department that evaluates cancer risks. "This could be another big push for countries to clean up exhaust from diesel engines."
Since so many people are exposed to exhaust, Straif said there could be many cases of lung cancer connected to the contaminant. He said the fumes affected groups including pedestrians on the street, ship passengers and crew, railroad workers, truck drivers, mechanics, miners and people operating heavy machinery.
The new classification followed a weeklong discussion in Lyon, France, by an expert panel organized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The panel's decision stands as the ruling for the IARC, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.
The last time the agency considered the status of diesel exhaust was in 1989, when it was labeled a "probable" carcinogen. Reclassifying diesel exhaust as carcinogenic puts it into the same category as other known hazards such as asbestos, alcohol and ultraviolet radiation.
The U.S. government, however, still classifies diesel exhaust as a likely carcinogen. Experts said new diesel engines spew out fewer fumes but further studies are needed to assess any potential dangers.
"We don't have enough evidence to say these new engines are zero risk, but they are certainly lower risk than before," said Vincent Cogliano of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He added that the agency had not received any requests to reevaluate whether diesel definitely causes cancer but said their assessments tend to be in line with those made by IARC.
Experts in Lyon had analyzed published studies, evidence from animals and limited research in humans. One of the biggest studies was published in March by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. That paper analyzed 12,300 miners for several decades starting in 1947. Researchers found that miners heavily exposed to diesel exhaust had a higher risk of dying from lung cancer.
Diesel fumes cause cancer - WHO agency
Updated: 08:45, Thursday June 14, 2012 Skynews.com.au
Diesel exhaust causes cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer agency has declared, a ruling it says could make exhaust as important a public health threat as second-hand smoke.
The risk of getting cancer from diesel fumes is small, but since so many people breathe in the fumes in some way, the science panel says raising the status of diesel exhaust to carcinogen from 'probable carcinogen' is an important shift.
'It's on the same order of magnitude as passive smoking,' said Kurt Straif, director of the IARC department that evaluates cancer risks. 'This could be another big push for countries to clean up exhaust from diesel engines.'
Since so many people are exposed to exhaust, Straif said there could be many cases of lung cancer connected to the contaminant. He said the fumes affected groups including pedestrians on the street, ship passengers and crew, railroad workers, truck drivers, mechanics, miners and people operating heavy machinery.
The new classification followed a weeklong discussion in Lyon, France by an expert panel organised by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The panel's decision stands as the ruling for the IARC, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.
The last time the agency considered the status of diesel exhaust was in 1989, when it was labelled a 'probable' carcinogen. Reclassifying diesel exhaust as carcinogenic puts it into the same category as other known hazards such as asbestos, alcohol and ultraviolet radiation.
Experts said new diesel engines spew out fewer fumes but further studies are needed to assess any potential dangers.
Experts in Lyon had analysed published studies, evidence from animals and limited research in humans. One of the biggest studies was published in March by the US National Cancer Institute. That paper analysed 12,300 miners for several decades starting in 1947. Researchers found that miners heavily exposed to diesel exhaust had a higher risk of dying from lung cancer.
Lobbyists for the diesel industry argued the study wasn't credible because researchers didn't have exact data on how much exposure miners got in the early years of the study; they simply asked them to remember what their exposure was like.
A person's risk for cancer depends on many variables, from genetic makeup to the amount and length of time of exposure to dangerous substances.