| Even a hundred years before Rudolf Diesel invented | | | | diesel trucks and equipment used in fire stations." |
| his engine in the 1890s, hydrocarbon soot was | | | | The California Air Resources Board is at the forefront |
| already known to be a danger in the workplace. Soot | | | | of pollution control in the United States, and sets the |
| is the very first chemical substance ever identified as | | | | standards by which local governments gauge |
| an occupational health hazard, being linked to diseases | | | | compliance. CARB lists some diesel particulate filters |
| among chimney sweeps in London in 1775. | | | | as acceptable for emission reduction as aftermarket |
| In America two centuries later, it's time to come to | | | | parts. No drop hose systems are listed because they |
| grips with the liability faced by fire departments that | | | | are not considered pollution control devices. |
| fail to take heroic measures to protect employee | | | | On-board exhaust filters are not exactly a new idea. |
| health. | | | | The first patent appeared back in 1908 when truck |
| Diesel smoke has been listed as a cancer-causing | | | | wheels had wooden spokes. In 1949 the U.S. Army |
| chemical by the state of California since 1990. It is a | | | | invented the earliest version of the modern diesel |
| combination of chemicals which vary somewhat, | | | | exhaust filtration system. |
| depending on engine characteristics and fuel quality. | | | | In 1985 General Motors developed the monolithic |
| All diesel smoke contains an array of substances, | | | | ceramic honeycomb filter. Initial trials on high-end |
| each by itself scientifically linked to cancer - arsenic, | | | | diesel Mercedes automobiles in the 1990s found the |
| benzene, formaldehyde, nickel, and polycyclic | | | | filters captured 99 percent of emissions. But back |
| aromatic hydrocarbons. Those toxic ingredients bind | | | | then, using available-grade diesel fuels, the filter |
| to the surface of microscopic particulate soot. | | | | captured so much soot so quickly that it had to be |
| Numerous human studies demonstrate diesel exhaust | | | | changed too frequently. Those experiments were |
| exposure increases cancer risk. In fact, long term | | | | abandoned, and the technology went more or less |
| exposure to diesel exhaust particles poses the | | | | dormant. |
| highest cancer risk of any toxic air contaminant | | | | With the coming of computerized engine ignition and |
| evaluated by the California Office of Environmental | | | | ultra low-sulfur fuel, diesel particulate filters are much |
| Health Hazard Assessment. | | | | in vogue today. |
| Diesel engine fire trucks first appeared in the | | | | The efficiency of the diesel particulate filter also |
| mid-1950s. Today, diesel power drives virtually all fire | | | | poses its limitation. Filters clog. The rate at which |
| apparatus and emergency vehicles. Right from their | | | | they fill to capacity depends on fuel quality, the age |
| introduction, the smoke that diesel apparatus emitted | | | | and condition of the engine, and driving habits. |
| was regarded as unhealthy. At many firehouses | | | | Accumulation means periodic cleaning. As soot packs |
| some sort of tailpipe hose was jury-rigged to vent | | | | the filter channels, counter-pressure is created, which |
| exhaust fumes outside through a window or under | | | | bogs down the engine. A close cousin of the diesel |
| the door. | | | | filter, in effect and principle, is the diesel exhaust |
| Nowadays - in addition to using the best available | | | | brake, used on many heavy-duty trucks and buses. |
| grade of fuel, minimizing running times, ventilating the | | | | A muffler is a silencer and also a spark arrestor. With |
| building, exchanging fresh air, and keeping sealed | | | | a catalytic coating, it may be an oxidizer. Or used as |
| doorways between garage and living quarters - there | | | | a pre-filter. |
| are limited ways of coping with the health risk of | | | | Several manufacturers of diesel emissions systems |
| diesel smoke by building modifications in combination | | | | use diesel particulate filters for over-the-road and |
| with aftermarket parts for fire apparatus. | | | | off-road vehicles, including Englehard, Lubrizol, and |
| Fans and filter cabinets remove airborne | | | | Johnson Matthey. Those systems are, |
| contaminants and help keep building surfaces clean, | | | | generally-speaking, complex and maintenance |
| but since they do not prevent the release of | | | | intensive. They impede horsepower through the |
| particulates into the workplace atmosphere, they are | | | | "jake brake" effect, and all of them absolutely require |
| janitorial equipment with no preventive health benefit. | | | | burning ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. |
| Garage drop hoses and on-board diesel particulate | | | | Most of our national awareness of environmental |
| filters are the two methods most often used to | | | | controversies originated on the West Coast, including |
| mitigate the hazard of diesel smoke in fire stations. | | | | pollution trade credits and the use of ultra low-sulfur |
| Drop hoses are traditional and have some benefit, | | | | diesel fuel. Current litigation foretells a brewing |
| but you need to rethink whether drop hoses come | | | | national movement that can have a crippling impact |
| even close to being adequate in light of today's | | | | on fire departments large and small. |
| environmental fervor. | | | | An open undecided lawsuit in California filed in May |
| Hoses require manual connection. Even brief exposure | | | | 2006 pits plaintiff Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) |
| offsets air quality gains from a parked truck | | | | against Laidlaw Transit Services. The environmental |
| connected to a hanging hose. | | | | activist organization demands school buses carry |
| Hoses are sometimes called capture systems, which | | | | warning labels on all their buses, an extension of the |
| is a misnomer. Hoses do not capture contaminants; | | | | way tobacco companies are required to label |
| hoses blow raw exhaust outdoors. Diesel soot is | | | | cigarettes. |
| microscopic with a long airborne residency. Particles | | | | The ELF lawsuit lays the groundwork for a flood of |
| blown outside by a hose duct re-enter the building | | | | future big dollar claims related to occupational diesel |
| through doors which have to be open to allow the | | | | smoke exposure. Plaintiffs argue that under health |
| trucks in and out. This is called the canyon effect. | | | | and safety laws, people have a right to be informed |
| You'll never live to see the day a firefighter walks | | | | about exposure to chemicals that cause cancer, birth |
| behind the wheels to try attaching exhaust hose to a | | | | defects or other reproductive harm. |
| moving truck. Hoses are not attached when a truck | | | | Health risks of diesel smoke are very real. The only |
| is entering the bay, nor do they stay attached when | | | | sensible way to cope with diesel pollution in the |
| the truck goes out the door. Therefore, a hose | | | | workplace is to implement proactive steps that |
| system is not very effective at all.So then, beyond | | | | demonstrate the fire department is doing all that it |
| drop hose, what can a fire department do to ensure | | | | can to ensure a safer workplace. Fleets must be |
| that its personnel are provided with the best available | | | | converted eventually to new less-polluting fire |
| health protection? One study by a private advocacy | | | | apparatus as it comes to market. Short term, fire |
| group, the R.I.C.H.T.E.R. Foundation, which is dedicated | | | | departments must retrofit existing apparatus with |
| to diesel exhaust safety issues, concluded, "The | | | | listed aftermarket pollution-control devices exhibiting |
| most efficient and cost effective way to reduce | | | | the best technology. |
| emissions is to install diesel particulate filters in all | | | | |