Clean Air News

As the new home of NJPIRG's environmental work, Environment New Jersey can be contacted regarding this news release.

TRENTON—New Jersey residents face the nation's 2nd greatest cancer risk from diesel exhaust according to a new national report released on February 22, 2005. Within New Jersey, the Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat report reveals that Hudson, Camden and Mercer County residents face the greatest risk at 1394 (5th out of 3109 counties nationally), 766 (20th nationally) and 699 (22nd nationally) times greater than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deems to be an acceptable cancer risk. Atlantic (ranking 223rd nationally) and Cape May (508th nationally) County residents face the lowest diesel related cancer risks in the state, yet their risks are still 311 and 246 times more than what EPA advises.

With the exception of Cape May County, every New Jersey county was above the 93rd percentile nationally—making them some of the "unhealthiest" counties in the nation due to diesel soot in the air. This represents staggering annual health and economic costs to New Jersey every year. They include: 880 premature deaths; 1,382 non-fatal heart attacks; 17,926 asthma attacks; 535 cases of chronic bronchitis; 107,364 lost work days; 620,975 minor restricted activity days; 541 pediatric emergency room visits; 1,290 cases of acute pediatric bronchitis; and 26,958 children exhibiting lower and upper respiratory symptoms.

Yet, the report also notes that many of these health and monetary costs to families could be easily prevented if federal and state authorities took aggressive action to apply existing technology to cut diesel emissions by 90 percent or more.

The report and its website http://www.catf.us/goto/NJEFdieselhealth were researched and produced over the past year by the non-profit Clean Air Task Force using EPA's own scientific methodology. They were made public today by the NJ Environmental Federation (NJEF), NJ Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA), NJ Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and public health professionals.

"Diesel exhaust may be the single most severe air pollution threat to public health here in New Jersey," stated Nicky Sheats, NJ Environmental Justice Alliance Representative. "We're all familiar with diesel's sooty smell. It doesn't take a math wizard to comprehend the impact of this level of diesel pollution, especially in our urbanized areas where buses, trucks, construction equipment abound."

"Too many of the victims are the most vulnerable members of society—the young, our seniors, and those who can least afford to miss a day of work or pay to visit a doctor," further explained Patricia Nelson-Johnson, Project Director, City of Trenton Pediatric Asthma Prevention Project. According to the report, urban areas face a three times higher risk of lung cancer due to diesel exposure than rural areas.

While supportive of federal efforts that begin to address the problem, the report notes that EPA's recently-issued emissions standards for new diesel engines will take over 25 years to become fully effective and do not apply to any of the 13 million diesel vehicles on the road today. Moreover, the report notes, funding will be needed to support city and state efforts to retrofit existing diesels with emissions controls, particularly in light of recent federal health standards to control fine particles.

"We are especially concerned about the impact of school bus exhaust on children as tailpipe fumes hop on the bus through the front door every time a bus makes a stop," said Amy Goldsmith, State Director, NJ Environmental Federation. "Fortunately, we don't have to wait two or three decades (2-3 generations of school children) for the current crop of dirty diesel equipment to be retired. Affordable solutions exist today that can reduce diesel engine emissions by 90 percent or more."

Diesel concentrations inside a school bus are up to 10 times higher than the outside ambient air, with levels being worse in the front of the bus and during cold weather months when the windows are closed. New Jersey children ride on average 1.5 hours per day, five days a week. In some suburban and rural areas of the state, the round trip ride might be as long as 4 hours per day. This exposure is at a time in a child's life when their lungs are maturing and they are most vulnerable to illness and injury. Asthma is the leading cause of school asbenteeism.

"We have the technology right now to cut down on toxic diesel emissions across the state," said Doug O'Malley, NJPIRG's Environmental Advocate. "If we are going to control New Jersey's air pollution, we need to reduce diesel pollution. It was tough going but last year we passed legislation to clean-up gasoline powered cars, now we need to do the same for diesel engines."

Reducing diesel pollution has gotten the attention of the legislature's environmental committee chairs, State Senator Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) and Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex), and NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Commissioner Brad Campbell. They are sponsoring legislation, S1759/A3182, to reduce this pollution by 20 percent but the prospects of the bill and how strong it can be are currently unclear.

"We can confidently say that reducing diesel exhaust in our environment will improve public health," said Dr. Leonard Bielory, M.D., Director, Asthma & Allergy Research Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark. "And we do not need to wait."

"This is a well researched study that demonstrates we're not doing enough to protect children from dangerous levels of diesel exhaust and the toxic substances it contains," said John Wargo, Ph.D., Professor of Risk Analysis and Environmental Policy at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and director of the Yale Environment and Health Initiative. "EPA has designated components of diesel exhaust as human carcinogens. Some are also genotoxic, mutagenic, and can produce inflammation and irritation of airways. Children are often exposed to diesel exhaust at levels far above those predicted by current government monitoring efforts. When this knowledge is combined with the recognition that we're facing a national epidemic of childhood asthma, the study recommendations represent sound policy resting upon sound science."

"Certainly, EPA must stay the course on its long-term program to reduce emissions from new engines," said Conrad Schneider, Clean Air Task Force's Advocacy Director and co-author of the report. "In the meantime, we must address emissions from the dirty engines on the road today. Given diesel's toll in lives and livelihoods, and the availability of affordable, off-the-shelf solutions, a quarter century delay for clean-up simply is not acceptable."

Founded in 1996, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) (www.catf.us) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring clean air and healthy environments through scientific research, public education, and legal advocacy. CATF's staff includes scientists, engineers, economists, MBAs and lawyers. The organization works closely with more than 40 state, local, regional and national groups to educate the public, media, industry and public decision makers on the science and economics of clean air policies through fact-based and locally appropriate advocacy.

Visit http://www.catf.us/goto/NJEFdieselhealth for specific state and county data.