The nation’s railroads have known that diesel exhaust could cause cancer since as far back as 1955 as highlighted in a prior blog. Over the last seventy years, more and more studies have confirmed that this exhaust causes cancer, including amongst railroad workers. The American Cancer Society has recognized that railroad workers have some of the highest diesel exhaust exposures in the country: “People with some of the highest work exposures include truck drivers, toll booth workers, miners, construction workers, forklift drivers and other heavy machinery operators, railroad and dock workers, firefighters, and garage workers and mechanics.” Every year, newly published medical studies further confirm just how dangerous diesel exhaust can be!
How bad is the diesel exhaust problem?
An article published in Newsweek magazine in 2024, noted that: “Worldwide, exposure to the fine particulate matter in polluted air causes 7 million deaths every year, according to estimates from the World Health Organization. And more than 1 in 3 Americans lives in counties with unhealthy levels of air pollution, the American Lung Society reports… The particulate matter in diesel exhaust has already been shown to exacerbate existing lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, as well as heart conditions and certain types of cancer.” The diseases caused by diesel exhaust are serious and life-threatening!
What is new?
A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has now found that diesel exhaust can also affect the immune systems of persons exposed. The white blood cells of exposed persons were less effective at protecting the body from disease. Moreover, the white blood cells of persons exposed to this exhaust had dangerous inflammatory responses, which can cause further tissue damage and cell mutation which can cause cancer.
Why is this problem so serious for railroad workers?
Thousands of railroad workers are exposed to diesel exhaust every day at work. These workers are employed as locomotive engineers, brakemen, conductors, clerks, track workers, locomotive shop workers, mechanics, machine operators and carmen. The job title does not matter — diesel exhaust exposure can cause cancer and disease in anyone, regardless of their job title. Railroad workers should be aware of these cancer and immune system risks because they are life-threatening. They should also be screened for diesel-related injury and cancer to help ensure early detection.
Our office regularly represents railroad workers in all different jobs who develop lung disease (including asthma, chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis) and cancer (lung, bladder, throat, colon, leukemia, lymphoma, myelodysplasia syndrome also known as MDS, etc.). These rail workers suffering from diesel-related lung disease and cancer range in age from their early forties to their late eighties. Some railroad workers are still employed when they are first diagnosed with cancer or disease, others have been retired from the railroad for many years. The lives and health of countless railroad workers could have been saved over the last 70 years with simple education and awareness about the risks of diesel exhaust. Please reach out to the railroad diesel exhaust injury lawyers at Doran and Murphy if you have any questions or if we can be of service to you. Our toll-free number is 1-800-374-2144!
