The following is a summation of a 2018 study conducted by MIT scientist in the European Union, (EU), who found emissions from most diesel cars greatly exceeded laboratory testing levels, producing 16-times more emissions in real-world driving that ultimately caused 2,700 premature deaths across the EU by a decade. While we recognize the studies focus was on cars (and not buses), diesel fuel is the same the world over.
​
OUR GOAL?
TO STOP THE RETURN OF DIESEL-FUELED BUSES TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
​
OUR OBJECTIVE?
TO BE HEALTHIER
​
Prompted by the 2015 scandal involving German automaker Volkswagen, found guilty of cheating federal emissions tests on 11 million passenger vehicles sold in the US, Steven Barrett, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and the study’s lead author, joined his MIT colleagues, (co-authors) Guillaume Chossière, Robert Malina (now at Hasselt University), Florian Allroggen, Sebastian Eastham, and Raymond Speth, in finding, (emphasis added), “Cleaner diesel may not be the answer: The solution is to eliminate NOx altogether. We know there are human health impacts right down to pre-industrial levels, so there’s no safe level. At this point in time, it’s not that we have to go back to [gasoline]. It’s more that electrification is the answer, and ultimately we do have to have zero emissions in cities.”
While this study did not specifically focus on diesel particulate matter, (DPM) – diesel soot particles formed from incomplete combustion – it did focus on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, a byproduct of diesel exhaust. The results were devastating.
Wherever DPM is emitted, it remains local – a danger to those in and around the 14th St. bus garage – but when these NOx emissions – a gas – are combined with the natural ammonia in the air, tiny particles are formed that are capable of traveling long distances, ending up in areas where there is less NOx emissions.
​
The study showed that those inhabitants – thousands of miles away – experienced a disproportionate number of premature deaths from excess emissions originating somewhere else.
When inhaled, the particles can lodge deep in the lungs, increasing your chances of developing asthma, or asthma-like conditions, other respiratory diseases, as well as pulmonary and cardiac conditions. It gets in your blood stream where it remains for the rest of your life; it cannot be removed. NOX emissions also contribute heavily to smog, which has bad connotations for the health of all mammals, including your pets.
​
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN DIESEL! -- It's an oxymoron
The study says 2,700 people each year will have their lives shortened by at least a decade – 10-years – because of the extra pollutants. The sad news is, in the end the study notes, even if all 10 car manufacturers tested were to meet the on-road emissions performance of the best manufacturer in the study group, it would avoid 1,900 premature deaths due to NOx exposure, leaving 800 people with a high degree of uncertainty. The study concludes – and we agree – ultimately, regulators and manufacturers will have to go even further to prevent emissions-associated mortalities.
​
“There’s No Safe Level” of NOX Pollutants (Except Zero)
​
​
​
Further information about the MIT study:
​
For the full MIT study/report: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1352231018304382?token=00A687494209C3A9DC2A1EA6A0EE547B379B5054FDAC67149B7BA4D38E466FE8C769D26C07DF2BDA79E6CF551E3BB90B
For truncated version and news articles of the MIT study/report: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231018304382?via%3Dihub
​
Chu, J., & MIT News Office. (2018, September 21). Study: Emissions from most diesel cars in Europe greatly exceed laboratory testing levels. Retrieved January 24, 2020, from http://news.mit.edu/2018/study-europe-diesel-car-emissions-0921​
​
Howard, B. (2018, September 26). Even Clean Diesel Exhaust Has Health Risks: MIT Study. Retrieved January 24, 2020, from https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/277707-even-clean-diesel-exhaust-has-health-risks-mit-study
