Exhausted by Diesel
How America's Dependence on Diesel Engines Threatens Our Health

> Press Release    > Full Report

Everyone is familiar with the black cloud that belches out of some diesel trucks and buses when they accelerate. This choking cloud is not only offensive, but growing evidence shows that it is also a health hazard. Diesel exhaust contains hundreds of constituent chemicals, dozens of which are recognized human toxicants, carcinogens, reproductive hazards, or endocrine disruptors; it is also a major source of tiny sooty particles which have been linked to respiratory disease, heart disease and death.

Facilities with heavy truck traffic are exposing local communities to diesel exhaust concentrations far above the average levels in outdoor air. These affected communities, and the workers at these distribution facilities with heavy diesel truck traffic, are bearing a disproportionate burden of the health risks and are paying the price for our society's addiction to diesel engines.

Contents

• Introduction
• Highlights
• Diesel: Heavy Use and High Exposures
• Human Health Impacts
• Who is Most at Risk
• Minimal Regulation of Diesel Exhaust
• NRDC and the Coalition's Dump Dirty Diesel Campaign
• Life after Diesel: The Alternatives
• Conclusion and Recommendations