diesel vs. gas exhaust

[Sri Ram]

Gals at work giving me heck about idling too close to the building…They say my sweet ol' truck smells bad! I can't take it. Does anyone know how diesel exhaust compares to gas exhaust in terms of toxicity to humans? I know CO is oderless, colorless and tasteless. But gas exhaust tends to be heavier in carbon dioxide. Does that smell? Help me out here…

 

[TGibbs]

I hate the smell of all gas exhausts period. As for diesel our massey ferguson smells bad but the ole dodge smells like a coffee in the morning :-laf

 

[benhall]

You might want to do a suicide comparison. People that use Carbon Monoxide to do this, use gas motors, not diesel.



Ben

 

[mroodzant]

Diesel is just as deadly as Gasoline engine exhaust. Diesel soot has been proven to cause brain tumors.

 

[SKargo]

Diesel is just as deadly as Gasoline engine exhaust. Diesel soot has been proven to cause brain tumors.

I would be grateful if you would be so kind as to provide a link to that.

 

[WDixon27]

run biodiesel and make em hungry instead :-laf

 

[SHobbs]

run biodiesel and make em hungry instead :-laf

Was asked at the cleaners the other day if I had been cooking on a grill. They had the doors open and I left the truck running outside and the exhaust was drifting inside. It does smell like burgers on the grill if ya burn soybean oil.

 

[mroodzant]

I will Look. I found info on it a couple years ago while reseaching long term effects of Diesel exhaust. I am exposed to diesel exhaust every day at work. I will post a link as soon as I can back up my statements

 

[JRagland]

The link





With a quick literature search, this was the most comprehensive and unbiased report I found in the non-EPA and non-enviromental publications, which are quite biased and non-objective. However, some of the references are from EPA studies.

So the answer is: probably, but I still wouldn't worry about it.

 

[mroodzant]

I will Look. I found info on it a couple years ago while reseaching long term effects of Diesel exhaust. I am exposed to diesel exhaust every day at work. I will post a link as soon as I can back up my statements

Well I read a study a while back supporting the Brain tumors. The study was of firefighter exposure to diesel particulates I cant find any info when I Google it to support brain tumors. However the instance of Lung, Bladder, and Skin Cancers are believed to be elevated when exposed to Diesel Exhaust, According to the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

 

[mroodzant]

I agree with J Ragland. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Just awareness for those of you exposed to it in higher doses for example, I work at a Firehouse where I breath Diesel on a regular basis. I drive my diesel truck to and from work. I ride with my family in our Diesel Jetta. I sit on my Diesel John Deere Working at our property. Lots of exposure to a known carcinigan

 

[wxman]

Not that I tend to put much stock in it, but there's at least one major study (railroad workers) that actually concluded that there was a decreasing risk of cancer with increasing length of exposure to diesel exhaust:





"…The Panel’s analysis of the exposure-response association in the railroad worker data showed that the evidence for a positive association of lung cancer with cumulative exposure to diesel exhaust depends entirely on differences in risks among job categories. Train workers (with higher exposures) have higher risks compared with clerks (with low or no exposure). However, within all job categories, the relation of lung cancer risk to duration of employment is negative…. " (emphasis added)



http://www.healtheffects.org/Pubs/DieselEpi-C.pdf (HEI, Diesel Emissions and Lung Cancer: Epidemiology and Quantitative Risk Assessment, p. 40 (June 1999))





As far as gasoline exhaust vs. diesel exhaust is concerned, I'm still perplexed as to why diesel exhaust is touted as this terribly dangerous concoction while gas exhaust somehow gets a free pass. There's no reason to believe gas exhaust is any less dangerous/carcinogenic. As a matter of fact, a CDC study concludes that gas PM/semi-volatiles is generally more biologically active than diesel PM per unit mass basis:



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( http://www.osti.gov/fcvt/deer2002/wallace.pdf )



This is beside the fact that gas exhaust has been shown to contain higher levels of not only CO, but other air toxics like benzene and formaldehyde, and that's comparing engine-out (uncontrolled) diesel emissions compared to gas exhaust with a catalytic converter:



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( http://www.osti.gov/fcvt/deer2000/eberharpa.pdf )



Assuming that diesel exhaust is much more hazardous than gas exhaust is a huge leap of faith, in my opinion.

 

[nickleinonen]

gasoline exhaust can kill you in minutes, diesel exhaust can do the same but in 10's of years...

 

[Thunderbolt]

run biodiesel and make em hungry instead :-laf

My buddy runs biodiesel and we knick-named his truck McDiesel because it smells like frenchfries! It will make you crave some fries...

 

[Sri Ram]

probably, but I still wouldn't worry about it.

I'm not gonna worry about it either; I'm still gonna idle it at least until the oil pressure comes up. Haven't had a chance to read the full reprt yet; but I may later today. Thanks for finding that!