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tru -- Study links vehicle exhaust, lung cancer mortality in trucking industry workers

Posted: 10 Dec 2008 10:03:26
New evidence of ill effects of diesel exhaust.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008
	  	  	
Mary Fricke
office 916-322-2990
www.arb.ca.gov

Study links vehicle exhaust, lung cancer mortality in trucking
industry workers

Findings lend further support for Friday's diesel truck vote

SACRAMENTO - Today the Air Resources Board announced new
evidence that trucking industry workers who have had regular
exposure to diesel and other types of vehicle exhaust showed an
elevated risk of lung cancer with increasing years of work.

The new research reveals that trucking workers with an
estimated
20 years on the job had an increased risk of lung cancer; long
haul workers, dockworkers, pickup and delivery drivers, and
people who worked as both dockworkers and pickup and delivery
drivers had an increased risk compared to workers in other job
categories, such as clerks and mechanics.

"We've known for more than a decade that exhaust from diesel
trucks is dangerous," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "The more
we study these emissions the more dangerous it appears."

This latest data on the cause of death in trucking industry
workers comes from a nationwide long term study, "Lung Cancer
and
Vehicle Exhaust in Trucking Industry Workers" by E. Garshick
and
colleagues, which assesses lung cancer deaths by job type in
31,135 Teamsters Union members from 1985 to 2000.

Nichols says the study "illustrates the greater burden on those
who work with diesel engines daily."

Researchers limited their study to men older than 39 years with
at least one year on the job, and examined men working as
clerks,
mechanics, long-haul drivers, dockworkers, combination workers,
and in pickup and delivery. Within the study period there were
4,306 deaths seen in the study group with 779 cases of lung
cancer. In addition, it implies that a reduction of diesel
particulate matter will have health benefits for the trucking
industry and the general public who live, commute, or work near
diesel vehicles.

The study's results are consistent with previous studies in the
United States and Canada that show an increased risk of lung
cancer in occupations which are likely to be associated with
exposure to diesel vehicle exhaust.

At the December meeting, board members will hear public
comments
and vote on the Statewide Truck and Bus Regulation. If the
regulation is passed, diesel trucker owners will be required to
install diesel exhaust filters on their rigs starting in 2010,
with nearly all vehicles upgraded by 2014.

The expected health benefit of the truck regulation is 9,400
fewer premature deaths between 2010 and 2025, and greatly
reduced
health care cost. These benefits have a value of $48 billion to
$69 billion.

Incentive funding to truck owners in the amount of $1 billion
in
grants and loans will be made available through programs such
as
Carl Moyer, Proposition 1B, and private loans through AB 118 to
comply with the proposed regulations.

For citations and more information on the study, please refer
to
the following link at www.arb.ca.gov/board/ma/2008/ma121108.htm
and to review the evolution of the proposed diesel truck rule,
please refer to www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/onrdiesel.htm

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote
and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources
through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.

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