Why is diesel exhaust considered a significant public health risk?
The West Coast, like other parts of the country, suffers from high concentrations of diesel exhaust, which exacerbates and possibly causes respiratory and cardiovascular illness and is a likely human carcinogen. As a major hub for trans-Pacific trade and domestic food production, the West Coast contains an unusual convergence of many different types of diesel sources – from trucks traveling along the I-5 corridor, to marine vessels and trains along the Pacific coast, to farm equipment in the most agriculturally productive region in the country, to construction equipment operating in some of the fastest growing cities in the country.
