European automotive supplier body, CLEPA, is refuting claims made in a study by a cancer research agency that diesel exhaust causes lung cancer.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently met in Lyons, with working group chairman, Christopher Portier, noting: “The scientific evidence was compelling and the working group’s conclusion was unanimous: diesel engine exhaust causes lung cancer in humans.
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“Given the additional health impacts from diesel particulates, exposure to this mixture of chemicals should be reduced worldwide.”
However, CLEPA has fought back, arguing its members have invested significantly in recent years to reduce emissions, especially particles for diesel engines.
The supplier association maintains current “clean diesel technology” is a key enabler of sustainable mobility and contributes to the CO2 emission reduction targets set out in European climate policy.
CLEPA says modern road vehicles with diesel engines use filters that remove more than 99% of particles, with the remaining exhaust particle content comparable to the ambient surroundings.
A statement from the body noted it was “concerned about the misleading conclusions of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in their review of the health hazard classifications of gasoline and diesel exhausts.”
CLEPA says the conclusions are based on data from obsolete engine technology used before particle filters were introduced and that emission profiles from engines built in the nineties and early last decade are far from being representative of current diesel technology – an issue it says is acknowledged by the IARC.
“The IARC study does not reflect the advances in diesel emission technology in the
past decade and cannot therefore be accepted as basis for regulatory or vehicle
development actions,” said CLEPA CEO, Jean-Marc Gales.
“Instead of creating uncertainties in the markets, we should first complete ongoing studies on the emissions and health impacts of modern diesel engines that are equipped with the European world leading emission reduction technologies.”
IARC is part of the World Health Organisation.
