If you have been exposed to diesel fumes you may be at heightened risk to contract cancer. A recent study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer found a higher instance of lung cancer among individuals whose job history would have exposed them to cumulative diesel lost exposure. This was true even when other factors such as smoking were taken into account.
Last year in a report published in the journal, Toxicology Letters, researchers at Ohio State University experimenting on mice were able to identify the process by which diesel fumes can cause cancer. The researchers there found that due to the very small size of particles in diesel fuel which pass through the lungs into the blood vessels, studies showed that these fumes and particles traveling through the circulatory system can contribute to the growth of blood vessels that can supply cancerous tumors encouraging them to grow.
To people who work as diesel mechanics, firefighters, diesel truck drivers and others running diesel equipment on a daily basis, these studies highlight the danger of performing these jobs. Stark & Stark has already begun filing claims in the New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation for workers who have contracted cancer and have been exposed to diesel fumes.