The Non-Road Diesel Engine Program reduces exposure to diesel exhaust and improves air quality in Metro Vancouver.
Diesel exhaust and particulate matter
Diesel engines emit a mixture of air contaminants, including gases and particulate matter (PM). The visible black smoke is often called diesel soot and contains very small particles made of carbon and other chemicals, including substances known to cause cancer. These small particles can reach deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
Health risks from diesel particulate matter
Diesel particulate matter (DPM) is linked to premature death and several heart and lung diseases. In Metro Vancouver, DPM accounts for approximately two-thirds of the lifetime cancer risk from toxic air contaminants. Non-road diesel engines contribute approximately 41 per cent of DPM emissions. Children, older adults, and people working near diesel equipment are at higher risk from exposure. Diesel exhaust is classified as a known or probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
DPM is associated with asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, cancers, heart attacks, and arrhythmia.
Source:
Toxic Air Pollutants Risk Assessment and Emissions Inventory for the Lower Fraser Valley
Nitrogen dioxide and other diesel air contaminants
Diesel engines also emit nitrogen dioxide (NO2), part of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) group of substances produced during high-temperature combustion. On hot, sunny days, NOx reacts with volatile organic compounds to form ground-level ozone. NOx also contributes to the formation of fine particulate matter — a priority air contaminant in the region.
NO2 has direct respiratory effects and contributes to early mortality, particularly for older adults and people with pre-existing respiratory conditions and there is no known safe level for it. NO2 also contributes to ecosystem damage through acid rain and nutrient loading in water bodies.