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We have published a review article in this month’s Journal of the
American Board of Family Medicine on the many adverse health
effects of diesel exhaust such as heart attacks, high blood
pressure, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, brain damage, as well
as lung, ovarian, and esophageal cancer. 

The article may be of interest to members of the Air Resources
Board as it summarizes the up-to-date findings regarding diesel
exhaust and public health. I will be present at the meeting to
answer any questions and provide copies of the article. It may
also be accessed on the internet at this site:

http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/21/1/55

Abstract: Diesel fuel and the products of its combustion represent
one of the toxins most commonly encountered by people living in
both urban and rural areas of the world. As nations become more
heavily populated, there will be increasing reliance on diesel
fuel to power mass transportation and commercial vehicles, as well
as heavy machinery involved in construction, farming, and mining.
The majority of patients who present to urban primary care clinics
and emergency departments will have had significant chronic
exposure to diesel exhaust because most use and/or live near busy
streets and highways. Furthermore, those who operate or work or
live near diesel-powered machinery will have even more toxic
exposure. Primary care physicians should be aware of the acute and
chronic deleterious clinical effects of diesel exhaust. In this
article we review the toxicity and myriad health problems
associated with diesel exhaust.