According to new evidence from UK Government scientists, choking smog in cities caused by diesel fumes is worsening. Nitrogen Dioxide levels are rising by 10-15 per cent a year. And because diesel fume toxins are ‘particulate’, they can accumulate in the lungs or pass through into the blood stream. Their presence has been found in every organ of the body.
Such pollutants have been linked with lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and asthma – making a mockery of past claims by ‘health bodies’ such as the cancer charity Cancer Research UK that links between cancer and environmental toxins are unproven. In 2009 the Committee on Medical Effects of air pollution talked concluded there were 29,000 premature deaths from diesel pollution a year.
In 2012, The World Health Organisation classified particulates in Diesel fumes as ‘carcinogenic’. It is hard to see how Cancer Research UK could have stayed silent for so long.
The report, produced by the UK Government’s Air Quality Expert Group notes that there has been a complete failure of the emissions regulatory system, and rather than attempting to impose stricter controls which would be cumbersome and slow, it would be easier to simply urge a straight switch for all light vehicles and taxis. In cities around the UK diesel powers almost all buses and taxis.
A further WHO report published in April 2014 concludes that the toxic particles from Diesel fumes cause damage in neurodevelopment and cognitive function, particularly emphasising the dangers to children.
CANCERactive founder and former Oxford University Biochemist, Chris Woollams said that the "evidence just continually mounts against Cancer Research and their views that only a small number of cases of cancer are caused by Environmental Toxins. One recent study showed clearly that driving in heavy traffic caused significant levels of carcinogenic pollutants to enter the body".