Environmental Impact

Environmental Issues
No element of the natural world is more essential to life than air, and no environmental task is more critical than keeping it clean. The particles in diesel exhaust aggravate diseases like emphysema and contribute to major illnesses, particularly lung cancer.

It’s Not Just Hurting Our Children
The affects of diesel emissions are not isolated to our children. The elderly are equally, if not more susceptible to respiratory disease and other medical problems. Studies conducted by the California Air Resource Board reveal that more than 70 percent of the risk of cancer from air pollution comes from diesel exhaust alone.

Our planet’s air is being poisoned. Unless we soon mount a serious worldwide assault on finding cost effective non-polluting remedies the future health and well-being of us all will be in question.

School Buses
The vast majority of the nearly 500,000 school buses in this country still use diesel fuel. Older buses generally have worse emissions than newer ones. Many school districts still use old models. Buses built in the mid- to late-1980s, for instance, are very common. There are school districts in California, Washington and Texas that are still using school buses more than 20 years old. The startling facts are:

• Levels of diesel exhaust inside a school bus
can be 4 times higher than cars
• Excess exhaust levels on school buses are
23 to 46 times higher than levels considered
to be a significant cancer risk
• Smog-forming pollutants from diesel engines
have been linked to decreased lung function
growth in children
• 23 million children are exposed to these
pollutants by riding school buses
• More than 70 percent of the risk of cancer
from air pollution comes from diesel exhaust
emissions alone

Particulate matter emitted by diesel powered engines causes thousands of deaths each year and costs the national economy billions of dollars. The American Lung Association reports that over 2,000 premature deaths could be avoided each year if particulate air pollution levels were reduced to legal limits in California alone.

The adverse health impacts of diesel pollution are dire, posing a serious threat to public health nationwide, and especially in urban areas. Diesel exhaust contains chemical compounds that wreak havoc on our air quality, playing a role in ozone formation, particulate matter, regional haze, acid rain and global warming.

Cost Effects
These effects are not limited to medical problems. Consider the cost aspect. Individuals and insurance companies are paying for the medical treatment. Farming and agricultural yields have been diminishing (more than $500 million in reduced U.S. crop production can be traced to excessive levels of smog). Even our forests are being affected (forestry yields are down). Contaminants in the water we drink and associated treatment costs can also be directly linked to diesel emissions.

Viscon offers cost effective fuel additive solutions. Our clean diesel fuel additive helps keep the environment safe.