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"jpten006__l94041"
JPRS-TEN-94-006-L
JPRS
Environmental Issues
27 March 1994
WEST EUROPE
UNITED KINGDOM
Diesel Fumes Said To Kill 3,000 a Year
Diesel Fumes Said To Kill 3,000 a Year
94WN0255A London THE SUNDAY TIMES in English 27 Mar 94 p 3
94WN0255A
London THE SUNDAY TIMES
English
CSO
[Article by Sean Ryan, environment correspondent: "Diesel
`Kills 3,000 a Year'"]
[Text] The government's most senior adviser on air
pollution in cities will trigger an intense debate over the
safety of diesel vehicles tomorrow by claiming that their
exhausts kill 3,000 people a year, writes Sean Ryan, Environment
Correspondent.
Professor Roy Harrison, chairman of a panel of experts
advising ministers on urban air quality, will warn that minute
particles given off when diesel fuel is burned may be causing
heart and lung failure, strokes and cancer.
Harrison accused diesel manufacturers yesterday of "peddling
misinformation" about their vehicles, which have soared in
popularity after being marketed as environmentally friendly.
More than 340,000 diesel cars were sold last year.
"Anyone who is concerned about air quality should not buy
diesel cars," said Harrison.
His claims were condemned by motor industry executives as
"scientifically dangerous". But Harrison believes he has
evidence to justify tighter exhaust standards and tax changes to
discourage diesel sales.
Harrison, professor of environmental health at Birmingham
University, calculated an annual death toll following American
research into the dangers of PM 10s -- "particulate matter" 10
thousandths of a millimetre in diameter. Diesel vehicles are
thought to produce one-third of the particles circulating in
cities, and their exhaust is classified as a probable carcinogen.
A study published by the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
analysed the deaths of 8,111 adults in six American cities and
found "statistically significant and robust" associations with
air pollution. The report concluded that the death rate in the
most polluted city was 26 percent higher than in the least
polluted. The strongest link was PM 10s.
Harrison's concerns are shared by medical experts at the
Department of the Environment, whose ministers are becoming
increasingly critical of cars in cities. The government is
expected to announce cuts of £1 billion in Britain's
road-building programme this week.
But motor manufacturers claimed Harrison's calculations were
misleading. Lucas, Britain's sole manufacturer of diesel
injection systems, said that while diesel exhaust probably
caused cancer, the risk was "vanishingly small".
The makers of diesel cars say they are less damaging to the
environment than petrol models because they emit lower levels of
several polluting gases and contain less benzene, a known
carcinogen linked with leukaemia.
Harrison, who disputes most of the manufacturers' claims,
says any technological improvements could be cancelled out by
higher sales of diesel cars.
COPYRIGHT: TIMES NEWSPAPERS LIMITED, 1994