dirt diesel emissions health

Mapping the Health Impacts of Dirty Diesel

A new interactive map shows you the levels of dirty diesel emissions in your neighbourhood and how it might be effecting you and your family’s health.

The map shows for instance that the three U.S. States with the highest rates of cancer due to diesel pollution are California, New Jersey and New York.

The three States with the lowest cancer rates due to diesel pollution are Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon.

According to Jonathan Lewis, Director of Transportation Decarbonization at the Clean Air Task Force, the group who built the dirty diesel map:

“Diesel emissions from the transportation sector are wreaking havoc on air quality in many U.S. communities,” said. “We hope this map will help people living and working in the most affected towns and cities quantify and articulate the enormous damage that diesel pollution causes in their communities. This information can help them push local and state leaders in government and business to develop better community planning processes, make smarter and more sustainable investments in roadways and fleet vehicles, and provide better access to preventative and responsive health care.”

Most of the diesel pollution we breathe comes from commercial diesel trucks used for things like shipping goods. Not surprisingly, rates of diesel pollution and cancer are clustered around high-traffic and industrial areas where lots of diesel trucks are operating.

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