Study says diesel emissions raise cancer risk

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Study says diesel emissions raise cancer risk

 

 

_http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/19/BA1PVMN0O.DTL_

(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/19/BA1PVMN0O.DTL)

 

Thursday, March 20, 2008

 

 

(03-19) 19:04 PDT OAKLAND -- Diesel emissions from trucks, machinery and

other sources elevate the risk of premature death, cancer, asthma and other

chronic diseases for more than 3 million people living in West Oakland and the

surrounding region, according to the most detailed study yet on the issue.

The analysis by the California Air Resources Board, released Wednesday

night, shows that the greatest health dangers related to toxic air emissions

stems

from diesel trucks traversing the freeways and other roadways around West

Oakland and the Port of Oakland.

The two-year public health inquiry covered a large swath of the Bay Area -

an area of 3,800 square miles that is home to 3.1 million people. The

residents had an elevated risk of cancer - nearly 1,200 additional cancers per

million people due to long-term exposure to diesel particulate matter than

people

living elsewhere, the study reported in preliminary findings.

The study also found other considerable health problems resulting from

exposure to port-related diesel pollution: 18 potential premature deaths

annually

occurring among people 30 and older, 290 asthma attacks, 2,600 days of work

lost and 15,000 " minor restricted activity episodes. "

Exposure to diesel particulate matter is a hazard especially for children

and elders. The air board has estimated that the toxins contributed to some 160

premature deaths in the Bay Area three years ago.

" We no longer live in the Industrial Age. People should not be exposed to

known toxins in their own homes, " said Dr. Anthony Iton, director of the

Alameda County Public Health Department.

He said that the report, which he had not yet read, confirms earlier health

findings.

" We have extensive data on the disproportionate burden of disease in West

Oakland, " he said. " We hope that this health risk assessment will be helpful in

quantifying the responsibility of the port to the adverse health outcomes in

West Oakland. "

The study concentrated on three sources of the toxic air contaminant: the

Port of Oakland, the Union Pacific Railroad near the port, and freeway truck

traffic and nonport-related marine vessel traffic in and around West Oakland in

general. Diesel trucks accounted for 70 percent of the elevated health risks

- amounting to 850 potential cancer cases per million above the expected

rate of cancer in the general population. Of the remainder, 15 percent of the

total risk came from port operations - 200 excess cancer cases - and 5 percent

came from Union Pacific rail-yard emissions - 40 additional cancer cases. The

remainder came from a variety of other sources including Amtrak and

construction businesses in the area.

Similar studies have been conducted to assess health risks associated with

the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but this one included a much wider

region than the others. " It was a huge undertaking, " said Patricia Rey, a

spokeswoman for the air board.

Taking a novel approach to measure marine vessel emissions, the large study

utilized data from 33 onshore and offshore weather stations to generate a

regional wind field.

" This health risk assessment will provide the community the focus and

momentum needed to mobilize and combat air pollution, " said Mary Nichols,

chairman

of the air board. " We look forward to working with community activists to

converge on the main pollution culprits, such as trucks motoring on nearby

freeways, affecting a growing and vibrant West Oakland. "

This week Port of Oakland commissioners began reviewing a slate of goals

designed to reduce diesel emissions by 85 percent over the next dozen years.

The port had come under heavy criticism in recent years for the dirty

emissions of trucks doing business with it. In 2005, county public health

officials

compiled state data revealing that West Oakland children ages 5 and under

visited the emergency room for asthma at a rate nearly three times higher than

children in Alameda County overall. Additionally, a study of death

certificates dating to the 1960s showed that residents of West Oakland lived 10

years

fewer than people living in the Oakland hills.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental

Protection Agency. The study was conducted in cooperation with the Bay Area Air

Quality Management District, the Port of Oakland and Union Pacific Railroad.

E-mail Elizabeth Fernandez at _efernandez_

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