The European-wide swing towards buying diesel cars, in order to satisfy increasingly stringent carbon emissions regulations, could be having an unexpected knock-on effect on our health. According to a study carried out in Germany, emissions of nitrous oxides and particulate matter (of which diesel is a major culprit) have been shown to increase the likelihood of diabetes in children.
The study, which tested 400 children aged 10, showed that for every 10.6 extra micrograms of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere, the risk of Type 2 diabetes went up by 17%. For particulate matter (effectively the soot from burning diesel) it was an increase in risk of 19% for every 6.0 micrograms extra.
"Given the ubiquitous nature of air pollution and the high incidence of insulin resistance in the general population, the associations examined here may have potentially important public health effects" said Dr Joachim Heinrich of the German Research Centre for Environmental Health, one of the report's authors.
While some researchers are urging caution on viewing the results (with some claiming that the blood samples taken from the children are too varied to take a truly precise view) nonetheless this will be a major thorn in the side of those who view vehicle emissions purely in terms of their carbon content, and the link between those and global climate change.
Fergal McGrath, public affairs and media manager at Bord Gais Networks, spoke to CompleteCar.ie recently about the potential for using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a clean-burning vehicle fuel, and he told us that "there's a reduction in the carbon emissions of up to 15% from diesel and up to 25% from a petrol vehicle if you're running on natural gas. That's the carbon emissions, but in emissions terms carbon dioxide is like the Hollywood star of emissions, it's the one that gets the headlines, but the most dramatic effect on emissions of switching to natural gas is on the local air pollutants. So carbon emissions might kill our grand-children but sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides that are going to get you and me, with respiratory problems from smog etc. They're virtually eradicated if you're burning natural gas."
CNG is already in use in significant numbers of vehicles in Europe, especially in Italy, and this new research will doubtless act as a spur to further development in this area, as well as in electric and hybrid-petrol vehicles.