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Diesel fumes affect rail workers
The mighty locomotives that haul hundreds of tons of material, all over the world’s railways, are usually powered by diesel engines.
Consequently, these locomotives emit toxic diesel exhaust which contains particles and gases that float in the air until they’re drawn into the lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to breath them in — namely those who work, on a daily basis, around trains.
No less than forty (40) sustances found in diesel exhaust are listed as hazardous material by the EPA. Yikes! Keep in mind that the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair so they’re small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs where, predictably, they contribute to a range of health problems.
No less than forty (40) sustances found in diesel exhaust are listed as hazardous material by the EPA. Yikes! Keep in mind that the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair so they’re small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs where, predictably, they contribute to a range of health problems. Workers in places with extremely bad conditions such as poisonous emitting gas should get life insurance along with their contracts.
The rail workers are the first to suffer from diesel exhaust since the health problems multiply and become more serious the longer it is inhaled. Longer-term exposure can lead to health problems like asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart attacks, permanent nervous-system disorders as well as cancers of the lungs and the bladder.
Even if some rail workers have become accustomed to diesel fumes, they shouldn’t be taken lightly. In fact, the State of California found that long-term exposure to diesel exhaust poses “the highest cancer risk of any toxic air contaminant”.
That’s not all, The New York Times also reported that workers with long-term exposure to diesel exhaust suffered lung cancer rates up to fifty 95) times higher than other workers.
You won’t hear about those “details” from the rail carriers when they hold their career days but nevertheless, it’s something any current -and- potential worker should think about.
Tags: diesel exhaust, diesel fumes, fuel, health problems, locomotives, trains
One Response to “Diesel fumes affect rail workers”
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The locomotives’ diesel exhaust particles are very small as most are in the invisible sub-micrometre range of 100 nanometers.
Inhaled particles cause health problems for people -but- their rough surfaces makes it easy for them to bind with other toxins in the environment, thus increasing the hazards of particle inhalation.
In other words, anybody located close to where the diesel-powered trains operate should be careful.
Exposures to diesel exhaust (directly or not) have been linked with acute short-term symptoms such as headache, dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, coughing, difficult or labored breathing, tightness of chest as well as irritation of the eyes, nose and throat.