In thousands of medical studies, scientists have documented serious adverse health impacts from the air pollutants resulting from diesel exhaust. The Clean Air Task Force (www.catf.us) estimates that ultrafine particles in diesel exhaust fine particles (DPM) are responsible for shortening the lives of at least 70,000 Americans each year. According to Cedars-Sinai Media Contact Sandra Van (sandy@prpacific.com), ultrafine particles, including diesel soot and other combustion products, are those less than 0.1 micron in diameter (one micron is one millionth of one meter, or about 1/70 the diameter of a human hair). Such particles are able to lodge deep in human lungs and even enter the bloodstream due to their minute size. Furthermore, Dr. Julia Ljubimova, oncologist and researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, found something disturbing when she probed the brains of rats exposed to air pollution: The dirty air appeared to trigger changes indicating the earliest stage of brain tumors. (http://www.thirdage.com/brain-fitness/brain-tumor-air-pollution-link-sought)
We have preliminary data on DPM captured on 30 nm filters (Sartorius North America Inc. Edgewood, NY) after having passed through a 1 µm filter (Millipore Corporation, Bedford, MA). The DPM, containing polonium-210 came from a variety of diesel engines operating in normal outdoor atmospheres with radon concentrations from 7 to 37 Bq/m3.
