By Richard Gray
The combination of economy and performance has won the hearts of millions of motorists. But Scottish scientists have uncovered disturbing new evidence that diesel engines are causing thousands of deaths each year.
Researchers have identified tiny soot particles from diesel exhausts - 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair - as the chief culprits in 9,000 fatal heart attacks in the UK annually.
The Edinburgh University team has worked out how the soot particles cross from the lungs into the blood stream, where they cause arteries to harden and clots to form. The findings are the hardest evidence yet of the deadly side-effects of diesel exhausts and will increase the pressure on manufacturers to fit engines with filters as standard.
Researchers at Edinburgh's Queen's Medical Research Institute have identified exhaust particles called PM2.5s as the most damaging to the human body. The miniscule soot fragments are caused by incomplete burning of fuel. While petrol engines create PM2.5s, diesel generates vastly higher quantities because it is a heavier fuel.
Professor Ken Donaldson, a toxicologist who helped lead the research team, said: "These particles are so small they pass quite easily through face masks that people often wear to protect themselves from traffic fumes.
Source: www.scotsman.com, 13 August 2006
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