Diesel exhaust

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Distinguish from Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which is an aqueous urea solution made of 32.5% high purity urea and 67.5% deionized water, used in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to reduce NOx concentration in exhaust emissions of diesel engines.
diesel locomotive.
An old diesel-powered truck emitting sooty exhaust gas while starting its cold engine.

Diesel exhaust (sometimes known in Britain as clag when emitted by diesel locomotives, or diesel engine emissions in scientific papers) is the exhaust gas of a diesel engine.

(The word "clag" originally meant the coal-smoky exhaust of steam locomotives, and nowadays means the often spectacular (particularly black) exhaust emissions of many older British diesel locomotives.)

In diesel engines, conditions inside of the engine differ from the spark-ignition engine, since power is directly controlled by the fuel supply, rather than by controlling the air supply. Thus when the engine runs at idle, enough oxygen is present to burn the fuel, and diesel engines only make significant amounts of smoke when running under load without sufficient air supply. This is partially mitigated in a turbocharged diesel engine.

Diesel exhaust is known for its characteristic smell, but this has largely disappeared in recent years following reductions in sulfur content.

Diesel exhaust contains toxic air contaminants. It is listed as a carcinogen for humans by the IARC in group 1.[1] Diesel fuel also contains fine particles associated with negative health effects. Diesel exhaust pollution was thought to account for around one quarter of the pollution in the air in previous decades, and a high share of sickness caused by automotive pollution.[2] Diesel engine exhaust has become far cleaner since 2000.

The lean-burning nature of diesel engines and the high temperatures and pressures of the combustion process result in significant production of nitrogen oxides, and provides a unique challenge in reducing of these compounds. Modern on-road diesel engines typically must use selective catalytic reduction to meet emissions laws, as other methods such as exhaust gas recirculation cannot adequately reduce NOx to meet newer standards in many jurisdictions. However, the fine particulate matter (sometimes visible as opaque dark-colored smoke) have traditionally been of greater concern in the realm of diesel exhaust, as they present different health concerns and are rarely produced in significant quantities by spark-ignition engines.

Diesel engines produce very little carbon monoxide as they burn the fuel in excess air even at full load, at which point the quantity of fuel injected per cycle is still about 50 percent lean of stoichiometric.

Occupational health effects

Exposure to diesel exhaust and diesel particulate matter (DPM) is a known occupational hazard to truckers, railroad workers, and miners using diesel-powered equipment in underground mines. Adverse health effects have also been observed in the general population at ambient atmospheric particle concentrations well below the concentrations in occupational settings.

In March 2012, U.S. government scientists showed that underground miners exposed to high levels of diesel fumes have a threefold increased risk for contracting lung cancer compared with those exposed to low levels. The $11.5 million Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS) followed 12,315 miners, controlling for key carcinogens such as cigarette smoke, radon, and asbestos. This allowed scientists to isolate the effects of diesel fumes.[3][4]

For over 10 years, concerns have been raised in the USA regarding children's exposure to DPM as they ride diesel-powered school buses to and from school.[5] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established the Clean School Bus USA initiative in an effort to unite private and public organizations in curbing student exposures.[6]

Particulate health effects

Diesel combustion exhaust is a source of atmospheric soot and fine particles, which is a fraction of air pollution implicated in human cancer,[7][8] heart and lung damage,[9] and mental functioning.[10] Diesel exhaust also contains nanoparticles, which have additional health impacts, and are as yet poorly understood.[citation needed]

Particulates

Diesel particulate matter (DPM), sometimes also called diesel exhaust particles (DEP), is the particulate component of diesel exhaust, which includes diesel soot and aerosols such as ash particulates, metallic abrasion particles, sulfates, and silicates. When released into the atmosphere, DPM can take the form of individual particles or chain aggregates, with most in the invisible sub-micrometre range of 100 nanometers, also known as ultrafine particles (UFP) or PM0.1.

The main particulate fraction of diesel exhaust consists of fine particles. Because of their small size, inhaled particles may easily penetrate deep into the lungs. The rough surfaces of these particles makes it easy for them to bind with other toxins in the environment, thus increasing the hazards of particle inhalation.

Health effects

Exposures have been linked with acute short-term symptoms such as headache, dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, coughing, difficult or labored breathing, tightness of chest, and irritation of the eyes and nose and throat[citation needed]. Long-term exposures can lead to chronic, more serious health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cardiopulmonary disease, and lung cancer.[11][7][8] The NERC-HPA funded 'Traffic Pollution and Health in London' project at King's College London is currently seeking to refine our understanding of the health effects of traffic pollution. Ambient traffic-related air pollution was associated with decreased cognitive function in older men.[10]

Mortality from diesel soot exposure in 2001 was at least 14,400 out of the German population of 82 million, according to the official report 2352 of the Umweltbundesamt Berlin (Federal Environmental Agency of Germany).

The study of nanoparticles and nanotoxicology is still in its infancy, but the full health effects from nanoparticles produced by all types of diesel is still being uncovered. It is already clear enough, however, that the health detriments of fine particle emissions are severe and pervasive. Although one study found no significant evidence that short term exposure to diesel exhaust results in adverse extra-pulmonary effects, effects that are often correlated with an increase in cardiovascular disease,[12] a 2011 study in The Lancet concluded that traffic exposure is the single most serious preventable trigger of heart attack in the general public, the cause of 7.4% of all attacks.[9] It is impossible to tell how much of this effect is due to the stress of being in traffic and how much is due to exposure to exhaust.[citation needed]

Since the study of the detrimental health effects of nanoparticles (nanotoxicology) is still in its infancy, and the nature and extent of negative health impacts from diesel exhaust continues to be discovered.

Variation with engine conditions

The types and quantities of nanoparticles can vary according to operating temperatures and pressures, presence of an open flame, fundamental fuel type and fuel mixture, and even atmospheric mixtures. As such, the resulting types of nanoparticles from different engine technologies and even different fuels are not necessarily comparable. One study has shown that the volatile component of 95% of diesel nanoparticles is unburned lubricating oil.[13] Long term effects still need to be further clarified, as well as the effects on susceptible groups of people with cardiopulmonary diseases.

Diesel engines can produce black soot (or more specifically diesel particulate matter) from their exhaust. The black smoke consists of carbon compounds that were not combusted, because of local low temperatures where the fuel is not fully atomized. These local low temperatures occur at the cylinder walls, and at the outside of large droplets of fuel. At these areas where it is relatively cold, the mixture is rich (contrary to the overall mixture which is lean). The rich mixture has less air to burn and some of the fuel turns into a carbon deposit. Modern car engines use a diesel particulate filter (DPF) to capture carbon particles and then intermittently burn them using extra fuel injected directly into the filter. This prevents carbon buildup at the expense of wasting a small quantity of fuel.

The full load limit of a diesel engine in normal service is defined by the "black smoke limit", beyond which point the fuel cannot be completely combusted. As the "black smoke limit" is still considerably lean of stoichiometric, it is possible to obtain more power by exceeding it, but the resultant inefficient combustion means that the extra power comes at the price of reduced combustion efficiency, high fuel consumption and dense clouds of smoke. This is only done in specialized applications (such as tractor pulling competitions) where these disadvantages are of little concern.

When starting from cold, the engine's combustion efficiency is reduced because the cold engine block draws heat out of the cylinder in the compression stroke. The result is that fuel is not combusted fully, resulting in blue and white smoke and lower power outputs until the engine has warmed. This is especially the case with indirect injection engines, which are less thermally efficient. With electronic injection, the timing and length of the injection sequence can be altered to compensate for this. Older engines with mechanical injection can have mechanical and hydraulic governor control to alter the timing, and multi-phase electrically controlled glow plugs, that stay on for a period after start-up to ensure clean combustion—the plugs are automatically switched to a lower power to prevent their burning out.

Chemical components

This is a list of chemical components that have been found in diesel exhaust.

ContaminantNote
acetaldehyde IARC Group 2B carcinogens
acroleinIARC Group 3 carcinogens
aniline IARC Group 3 carcinogens
antimony compounds Toxicity similar to arsenic poisoning
arsenicIARC Group 1 Carcinogens, endocrine disruptor
benzene IARC Group 1 Carcinogens
beryllium compoundsIARC Group 1 Carcinogens
biphenyl It has mild toxicity.
bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate endocrine disruptor
1,3-Butadiene IARC Group 2A carcinogens
cadmiumIARC Group 1 Carcinogens, endocrine disruptor
chlorine
chlorobenzene It has "low to moderate" toxicity.
chromium compounds IARC Group 3 carcinogens
cobalt compounds
cresol isomers
cyanide compounds
dibutyl phthalate endocrine disruptor
1,8-dinitropyreneCarcinogen[citation needed]
dioxins and dibenzofurans
ethylbenzene
formaldehyde IARC Group 1 Carcinogens
inorganic lead endocrine disruptor
manganese compounds
mercury compounds IARC Group 3 carcinogens
methanol
methyl ethyl ketone It may cause birth defects.[citation needed]
naphthalene IARC Group 2B carcinogens
nickel IARC Group 2B carcinogens
3-Nitrobenzanthrone One of the strongest carcinogens known
4-nitrobiphenyl
phenol endocrine disruptor[citation needed]
phosphorus
polycyclic organic matter, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
propionaldehyde
selenium compounds IARC Group 3 carcinogens
styrene IARC Group 2B carcinogens
toluene IARC Group 3 carcinogens
xylene isomers and mixtures: o-xylenes, m-xylenes, p-xylenesIARC Group 3 carcinogens

[14][15]

Some problems associated with the exhaust gases (nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides) can be mitigated with further investment and equipment; some diesel cars now have catalytic converters in the exhaust.

Regulation

Further information: Emission standard and Non-road diesel engine#Emission standards

Although the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a health standard in January 2001 designed to reduce exposure in underground metal and nonmetal mines, on September 7, 2005, MSHA published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to postpone the effective date from January 2006 until January 2011.

To rapidly reduce particulate matter from heavy-duty diesel engines in California, the California Air Resources Board created the Carl Moyer Program to provide funding for upgrading engines ahead of emissions regulations. In 2008 the California Air Resources Board also implemented the 2008 California Statewide Truck and Bus Rule which requires all heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses, with a few exceptions, that operate in California to either retrofit or replace engines in order to reduce diesel particulate matter.

Other effects

Experiments in 2013 showed that diesel exhaust impaired bees' ability to detect the scent of oilseed rape flowers.[16]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "IARC: DIESEL ENGINE EXHAUST CARCINOGENIC" (Press release). International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Retrieved June 12, 2012. "June 12, 2012 ‐‐ After a week-long meeting of international experts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), today classified diesel exhaust as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on enough evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer" 
  2. ↑ Health Concerns Associated with Excessive Idling
  3. ↑ Attfield, M. D.; Schleiff, P. L., Lubin, J. H., Blair, A., Stewart, P. A., Vermeulen, R., Coble, J. B., Silverman, D. T. (5 March 2012). "The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: A Cohort Mortality Study With Emphasis on Lung Cancer". JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. doi:10.1093/jnci/djs035. 
  4. ↑ Silverman, D. T.; Samanic, C. M., Lubin, J. H., Blair, A. E., Stewart, P. A., Vermeulen, R., Coble, J. B., Rothman, N., Schleiff, P. L., Travis, W. D., Ziegler, R. G., Wacholder, S., Attfield, M. D. (5 March 2012). "The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: A Nested Case-Control Study of Lung Cancer and Diesel Exhaust". JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. doi:10.1093/jnci/djs034. 
  5. ↑ Solomon, Gina; Campbell, Todd (January 2001). "No Breathing in the Aisles. Diesel Exhaust Inside School Buses". NRDC.org. Natural Resources Defense Council. Retrieved 19 October 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Clean School Bus". EPA.gov. United States Government. Retrieved 19 October 2013. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 bbc.co.uk - Diesel exhausts do cause cancer, says WHO, 2012-06-12
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 medpagetoday.com - WHO: Diesel Exhaust Causes Lung Cancer, 2012-06-12
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Nawrot, Perez, Künzli, Munters, Nemery Public health importance of triggers of myocardial infarction: comparative risk assessment The Lancet Volume 377, Issue 9767, Pages 732 - 740, 26 February 2011 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2962296-9/abstract doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62296-9
    "Taking into account the OR and the prevalences of exposure, the highest PAF was estimated for traffic exposure (7.4%)... "
    "… [O[dds ratios and frequencies of each trigger were used to compute population-attributable fractions (PAFs), which estimate the proportion of cases that could be avoided if a risk factor were removed. PAFs depend not only on the risk factor strength at the individual level but also on its frequency in the community. ... [T]he exposure prevalence for triggers in the relevant control time window ranged from 0.04% for cocaine use to 100% for air pollution. ... Taking into account the OR and the prevalences of exposure, the highest PAF was estimated for traffic exposure (7.4%) ...
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Power, Weisskopf, Alexeeff, Coull, Spiro, Schwartz Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Cognitive Function in a Cohort of Older Men PMID 21172758 . Full free text: http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.1002767
  11. ↑ Ole Raaschou-Nielsen et al (July 10, 2013). "Air pollution and lung cancer incidence in 17 European cohorts: prospective analyses from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)". The Lancet Oncology. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70279-1. Retrieved July 10, 2013. "Particulate matter air pollution contributes to lung cancer incidence in Europe." 
  12. ↑ http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/isth2005/abstract.asp?id=46528 Exposure to Diesel Nanoparticles Does Not Induce Blood Hypercoagulability in an at-Risk Population (Abstract)
  13. ↑ On-line measurements of diesel nanoparticle composition and volatility
  14. ↑ "EPA Report on diesel emissions" (PDF). EPA. 2002. p. 113. Retrieved 19 August 2013. ]
  15. ↑ Lippmann, Morton, ed. (2009). Environmental Toxicants. doi:10.1002/9780470442890. ISBN 9780470442890. 
  16. ↑ http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/131003/srep02779/full/srep02779.html , Diesel exhaust rapidly degrades floral odours used by honeybees, by Robbie D. Girling et al, Scientific Reports 3, article number 2779, received 26 June 2013, accepted 28 August 2013, published 03 October 2013.
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