by Ohio Environmental Council
National Partnership to Reduce Diesel Pollution - platform (pdf, 1 pg.)

Diesel and Health

• Diesel pollution makes people sick.  It contains lung irritants, more than 40 "air toxics" including carcinogens, and fine particulate matter (PM). Tiny particles in diesel exhaust are inhaled deep in the lungs, where they can trigger asthma and heart attacks. 
• Nationally, diesel PM cuts short the lives of approximately 21,000 people per year - more premature deaths than caused by homicide or drunk driving.
• Cuyahoga, Hamilton & Franklin Counties are some of the hardest hit for health impacts from diesel exhaust. The lifetime diesel soot cancer risk for a resident of Cuyahoga, Hamilton, or Franklin County is 395, 545, and 400 times EPA's acceptable risk level, respectively.
• School buses, trucks, construction and industrial equipment, locomotives and marine vessels are sources of diesel pollution. Since sources are concentrated in urban areas, people who live and work in cities are exposed to higher levels of risk.
• Diesel soot is a global warming pollutant. Black carbon from diesel exhaust, pound for pound, is thought to have a warming effect at least 220 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Solutions for Ohio

• Beginning in 2007, federal standards will require new diesel engines to be 90% cleaner than they are today. But since these standards only apply to new engines, diesels built to yesterday's emission standards will be on Ohio's roads and at Ohio's job-sites for years to come. Unless we act now.
• Solutions are available today. The same fuels and technologies that make 90% PM reductions possible from new engines are available for in-use engines as well.
• We support immediate emissions reductions to the lowest level achievable in school buses, transit buses, and state-funded construction equipment. These priority fleets endanger our most sensitive populations: children, seniors, and urban residents. There is no reason to delay clean up, not while federal and state grants are available and off the shelf solutions exist to make diesel clean up a reality.

We support government and business to adopt idle reduction policies to curb diesel emissions and save money.

With your help, Ohio can largely eliminate health risks from diesel vehicles by retrofitting with emission controls; switching to cleaner fuels; rebuilding or replacing older engines; eliminating unnecessary idling; improving the efficiency of freight and transportation systems; and building institutional support for diesel pollution prevention.

National Partnership to Reduce Diesel Pollution - platform (pdf, 1 pg.)

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