Big black clouds

One of the things that really gets to me is diesel exhaust. Seeing a truck driving down the highway leaving a swath of gag-inducing black smoke makes me really angry and quite disgusted. I usually try to avoid driving behind such trucks, because I like to drive with my windows down, which means all that nastiness is now in my lungs. But sometimes you get tricked into thinking that the big, lifted, (compensating) man-truck in front of you is just a regular truck. Until the light turns green. And the cloud envelopes your car.
I was wondering why we use diesel fuel in the first place if it is so gross. For some reason, I had in my mind that most people believe it is cleaner than regular gasoline. Like any good American, I googled diesel to find out more. Here is what I found in a nutshell. For more info, go to How Stuff Works. They even have a cool animation of how the engine works.
Apparently, diesel engines are more efficient. They create more energy per unit than gasoline. That is probably why I was thinking cleaner. For some reason, in my mind, efficient= clean. But they are not clean. They are incredibly dirty. That black nastiness is soot- particulates of all kinds and chemicals that are entering our atmosphere and creating acid rain and smog. I am not saying that gasoline engines are totally innocent, just that diesel creates more soot. The info available on OSHA says that particular kinds of workers are more at risk: long-haul drivers, mine workers, railway workers. Basically, anyone who works with diesel equipment a lot. Even forklift drivers (honey). The short-term effects can be like carbon monoxide poisoning: lightheadness, headache, nausea, fatigue. Long-term effects: cancer, particularly of the lung. Now, some studies in rats and mice have concluded that diesel exhaust raises the risk for ONLY lung cancer, no other kinds. But I’m sorry, of all the cancers out there, I think lung cancer is probably one of the worst. You can’t live without lungs. There is no pill to replace lung function, and ventilators aren’t exactly portable (not that having any one cancer is any better or worse than another).
This is worrisome to me, having grown up in a big city, knowing that there were bad air quality days, and now living again in a big city, with many bad air quality days. According to a KSL article from about a year ago, “bad air can have a terrible effect on pregnant women. ‘Basically...if a pregnant mother chooses not to smoke, if she lives in an area of high pollution, her baby is smoking.’" Also in that article, it states that 80% of lung function develops after birth. “Doctors say the particles that cause long-term health problems are still inside the lungs, even when the air is cleaned up by wind or a storm.” Hmm, growing lungs with crap in them, sounds like a good situation to me... =(
In a study conducted in France, study participants willingly breathed noxious air for an hour. Ugh. Basically, after half an hour the brain started functioning differently. “‘We believe our findings are due to an effect of nanoparticles or 'soot' particles, a major component of diesel exhaust,’ said Borm. Long-term effects of exposure ‘may interfere with normal brain function and information processing,’ he noted.” If even half an hour of traffic can make your brain stress out, no wonder road rage is on the rise. So there is my public service announcement/ rant for the day.