Diesel exhausts do cause cancer, says WHO

Exhaust fumes from diesel engines do cause cancer, a panel of experts working for the World Health Organization says.

It unanimusly concluded that the exhausts were definitely a cause of lung cancer and may also cause tumours in the bladder.

It based the findings on research in high-risk workers such as miners, railway workers and truck drivers.

However, the panel said everyone should try to reduce their exposure to diesel exhaust fumes.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the WHO, had previously labelled diesel exhausts as probably carcinogenic to humans but now they are believed as a definite cause of cancer.

Diesel exhausts are now in the same group as carcinogens ranging from wood chippings to plutonium and sunlight to alcohol.

It is thought people working in at-risk industries have about a 40% increased risk of developing lung cancer.

The impact on the wider population, which is exposed to diesel fumes at much lower levels and for shorter periods of time, is unknown.

But Dr Kurt Straif, from IARC, says, "the risk is higher, when there is lower exposure the risk is lower."

There have been considerable efforts to clean up diesel exhausts. Lower sulphur fuel and engines which burn the fuel more efficiently are now in use.

But director of cancer information Dr Lesley Walker said the overall number of lung cancers caused by diesel fumes was "likely to be a fraction of those caused by smoking tobacco".