from http://www.personalmd.com/news/a1997102408.shtml

   ============== Carcinogenic Chemical in Truck Exhaust ==============

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A chemical found in truck exhaust is a strong carcinogen and may be partly responsible for increased numbers of lung cancer cases in congested urban areas, according to a report in New Scientist.

The chemical, known as 3-nitrobenzanthrone, increases dramatically when engines are carrying a heavy load, according to Hitomi Suzuki, a chemist at Kyoto University in Japan, who made the discovery.

"I personally believe that the recent increase in the number of lung cancer patients in vehicle-congested areas is closely linked with respirable carcinogens such as 3-nitrobenzanthrone,''  Suzuki said in an interview with New Scientist.

In the U.S., the lung cancer rate in men is declining and the rate is slowing down in women, largely because fewer people are smoking cigarettes -- the number one cause of lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

3-Nitrobenzanthrone appears to be even more carcinogenic than another toxin in diesel exhaust, 1,8-dinitropyrene -- previously thought to be the most powerful mutagen known, according to the report.

Suzuki and colleagues used 3-nitrobenzanthrone in the Ames test, the classic test for carcinogenicity that measures DNA mutations in bacteria after chemical exposure.  The compound caused 6 million mutations per nanomole, a significant increase compared with 4.8 million for 1,8-dinitropyrene.

The researchers also found that 3-nitrobenzanthrone caused mutations in the blood cells of mice, suggesting that the toxin could have a similar effect on humans, according to Suzuki and colleagues from the National Institute of Public Health in Tokyo and the Kyoto Pharmaceutical University.  The study was published in the October issue of Environmental Science and Technology.

A nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (or nitro-PAH), 3-nitrobenzanthrone is the result of an interaction between ketones in burning fuel and nitrogen oxides in the air.  Although the chemical makes up only a tiny proportion of diesel exhaust -- a few parts per million -- it could still contribute to the carcinogenicity of diesel exhaust.

However, limiting the load carried by diesel trucks could reduce emissions of 3-nitrobenzanthrone, according to Suzuki.  And the nitro-PAHs form more rapidly in polluted air containing high levels of nitrogen oxides and ozone, he told New Scientist.

SOURCE: New Scientist (October 25, 1997, p. 4)

Reut 18:00 10-24-97

(24 Oct 1997 17:55 EDT)
winkys comment: YUCK, stop driving those diesels!!!

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