Cancer Risk From Diesel Fumes in Underground Mines Prompts Fears of Industrial Health Disaster
By Claire Moodie
Chris Davis arrives at his presentation to the mining industry armed with a box of sugar cubes, but there’s nothing sweet about his message. The former mining engineer is speaking out about what he believes is one of the biggest occupational health threats since asbestos — the diesel machinery exhaust fumes churned out by heavy machinery in many of Australia’s underground mines. “There are millions of nano diesel particles in the size of a sugar cube, coming from the exhaust of every diesel engine,” he said.
“And every breath you take underground, you are inhaling nano diesel particulates on a massive scale.” Nano diesel particulate matter (nDPM) is so small it is described as being less than a hundredth of the width of a human hair. But Mr Davis, who is part of a West Australian-based working group set up to investigate the risk, said there was increasing evidence of its harmful effects. The tiny particles can reach deep into the body and stay there for months.
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