Dangerous Driving: A Structured Review of Health Effects Caused By Occupational Exposure To Diesel

Abstract

Background: Diesel exhaust is a gas produced from the combustion of diesel fuel in diesel engines. These engines are used mainly in industrial and commercial sectors, with a small amount of consumer use. Diesel exhaust contains chemicals that are known carcinogens, and can negatively impact human health. Many occupations have chronic exposure to diesel exhaust. Research Question: The goal of this structured review is to assess whether occupational exposure to diesel exhaust in the working class has any adverse health effects compared to similar reference populations with no exposure to diesel exhaust. Methodology: Relevant studies were collected using the keywords “Diesel Exhaust”, “Health Effects”, and “Truck/Bus/Taxi Drivers” from the databases PubMed and SCOPUS. The resulting papers were limited based on criteria such as English language, human clinical studies, and relevance to the research question. The papers were reviewed to assess overall quality, and key components such as authors, study design, sample population, key data, and key finding were extracted. Results: 8 relevant papers were found and reviewed. Discussion: The results indicate a positive association between diesel exhaust and lung cancer/cardiovascular disease. Truck drivers were most at risk due to longer exposure times when compared to the on-exposure reference populations. Bus drivers and taxi drivers were found not be at the same risk level. Conclusion: These results provide evidence of the negative impact to health caused by chronic exposure to diesel exhaust. The populations at risk should be monitored and measures should be taken to avoid and mitigate the damage caused by this pollutant. Further studies should examine the decrease in adverse effects when diesel engines are substituted with cleaner energy sources.