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We need better protection from health hazards
6/29/2012
It is official. No longer a probability. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization stated that diesel exhaust definitely causes lung cancer. When we think of all the people we know of, who have cancer – some still suffering; others, sadly, no longer with us – it makes us want to do something to stop it from happening to someone else – ourselves included. But what can we do?
Right now? Not much. Short of wearing masks, as in that sudden outbreak of SARS cross Canada, there is nothing that beneficial we can do to prevent us getting cancer by that means. We cannot stop people from buying diesel-fuelled vehicles. Neither can we stop them clients from leaving their engines running to keep their vehicles cool when they come to our offices; or neighbours, for that matter, around the house. In the past, trucks were only used commercially to haul large items from say, the Port; but today trucks are the vehicles of choice for families – the bigger, the better. Some are so big that not every car parking space can accommodate them. And some of these use diesel in their tanks.
So you see, we are not even safe at home. It is becoming a suicide/ homicide situation – they are killing themselves with the diesel exhaust and killing us in the process. What we can do is desist from purchasing pre-owned diesel-fuelled vehicles; also we can limit the time we spend in traffic during rush hours (by choosing to be on the roads either earlier or later). People who exercise on evenings amidst the traffic are especially vulnerable as they inhale greater amounts of dirty fuel when jogging.
You can see that there really is not much we can do to protect ourselves, so that leads us to the other question: what can government do to protect its citizens from those deadly fumes? They can do plenty. What legislation did they enact when it was found that second-hand cigarette smoke was killing others? Ban smoking in public places. Did you ever think it would be possible to travel by plane and not have to be suffocated by cigarette smoke a few aisles down? It might seem difficult, but it is certainly not impossible to achieve. To do nothing means we would just have to continue burying our family members. We now have one other answer as to the cause of so much cancer in our society; but knowing what causes lung and bladder cancer does not help if nothing is done to protect the others who are just waiting to succumb to the same fate.
Rhonda Neblett
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