News Items

News Item - July 2005

"Traffic air pollution - a major health threat. "

In a submission to the Australian Government's Biofuels Taskforce the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has urged the Government to consider the human health issues associated with current vehicle emissions from petrol and diesel fuels.

AMA President, Dr Mukash Haikerwal said, " In our opinion, there is incontrovertible evidence that the addition of ethanol to petrol and biodiesel to diesel will reduce the deaths and ill-health associated by burning these fuels."

In a detailed submission "Health Impacts of Traffic Pollution - A Case for Mandating Ethanol" Associate Professor Ray Kearney of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, The University of Sydney highlights " the growing body of international and Australian scientific evidence of the risks posed to the public by traffic-related air pollution, especially coarse, fine and ultra-fine particles, gaseous irritants, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) that contribute to, for example:

• lung cancer deaths and accelerated tumour growth;
• increased cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarcts;
• limited blood flow and increased blood clotting;
• increased sensitivity to bacterial products in airways, and
• more severe common viral asthma."

• Read the AMA Press Release * pub. July 2005.
  
  
• Read the submission:
  "Health Impacts of Traffic Pollution - A Case for Mandating Ethanol"
  pub. June 2005.