Cleaning Up Diesel Pollution - Union of Concerned Scientists

Cleaning Up Diesel Pollution l 15raised concerns about the danger diesel pollutionposes to the entire nation.The State and Territorial Air Pollution ProgramAdministrators (STAPPA) and the Associationof Local Air Pollution Control Officials(ALAPCO) conducted an analysis of the nationalrisks from diesel, applying methodology and riskfactors similar to California. Their study foundthat diesel pollution may be responsible for morethan 125,000 additional cancers in the UnitedStates over a 70-year lifetime (STAPPA/ALAPCO, 2000).SMOG-FORMING POLLUTANTSIn the presence of sunlight, nitrogen oxidesand hydrocarbons can react to form urban ozone,or smog. Smog can irritate the respiratory system,reduce lung function, exacerbate asthma, damagethe lining of the lungs, and aggravate chroniclung diseases (EPA, 2000).Approximately 116 million Americans—40 percent of the nation’s population—currentlylive in areas that exceed the federal ozone standard(EPA, 2003C). Urban ozone pollution is linkedto increased hospital admissions for respiratoryproblems such as asthma (Koren, 1995; Whiteet al., 1994) and higher death rates on smoggy days,even at levels below the current federal standard(ATS, 1996). In addition, ozone air pollution hasbeen associated with as many as 10 to 20 percentof all summertime respiratory hospital visits andadmissions (EPA, 2000), and more than 1.5 millioncases of significant respiratory problems inchildren and adults every year (EPA, 2000).HIGHER-RISK POPULATIONSUrban and low-income communitiesEighty percent of Hispanics, 65 percent ofAfrican-Americans, and 57 percent of Caucasianslive in communities that fail to meet EPA airquality standards (ALA, 2002). Low-incomecommunities in particular face higher exposurelevels to diesel exhaust because they may be situatedcloser to freeways, distribution centers, orindustrialized areas with increased truck traffic.Construction and migrant farm workers alsoface exposure to diesel exhaust if they operateor work near heavy diesel equipment.ChildrenChildren may be particularly vulnerable to theharmful effects of air pollution (Ostro et al., 1995).Outdoors more often and breathing at faster ratesthan adults, children and their developing lungsmay experience greater exposure to harmful airpollutants (Wiley et al., 1993), which appears toincrease the severity of asthma attacks and evencause asthma in otherwise healthy children(McConnell et al., 2002). In communities withthe highest ozone levels, children who participatein three or more team sports are more than threetimes as likely to become asthmatic comparedwith less active children.Children raised in heavily polluted areas havereduced lung capacity, prematurely aged lungs,and increased risk of bronchitis and asthma comparedwith peers living in less urbanized areas(Dockery et al., 1989; Peters et al., 1999). In fact,the proximity of a child’s school to major roadshas been linked to asthma, and the severity of thechild’s symptoms increases with proximity to trucktraffic (Pekkanen et al., 1997). The link betweenpollution and asthma is of particular concern becauseasthma is the most common chronic diseaseof childhood and a leading cause of disability amongchildren. Approximately one in 20 children sufferedfrom asthma in 1998 (Federal InteragencyForum on Child and Family Statistics, 2001),costing $2.4 billion in additional health care(Lozano et al., 1999).