1y ago

Electric school buses are a breath of fresh air for children | Nearly $1B in federal funding could help clean up the unequal health impacts of diesel pollution.

grist.org Electric school buses are a breath of fresh air for children

Nearly $1B in federal funding will help decarbonize transportation and clean up some of the unequal health impacts of diesel pollution

Electric school buses are a breath of fresh air for children | Nearly $1B in federal funding could help clean up the unequal health impacts of diesel pollution.::Nearly $1B in federal funding will help decarbonize transportation and clean up some of the unequal health impacts of diesel pollution

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Probably not a good idea for them to suck on the tailpipe but diesel busses are like the most common type of bus and they don't pump the exhaust into the cabin. So unless busses in the US do that or kids like the taste of tailpipe I don't see how that is even happening.
- Because they stand next to the bus and wait in a line to get on while inhaling the fumes.
  
  Are you saying school busses in the US are like a fog rolling into town or something? Because I'm having a hard time picturing how kids can have enough exposure to diesel fumes the way you described it works or how petrol fumes aren't an even bigger issue since they are waiting near a car road. Also having regular busses would reduce petrol and diesel fumes they breath in while waiting anyways if it works the way you describe.
  
  What is 'enough' exposure to diesel fumes?
  
  Enough to be harmful. Humans get exposed to dangerous things every single day, even if you don't leave the house, it's just in a quantity to not effect you during a human lifespan.
  
  And you know it is not enough to affect children how? Have you done a study? Because the National Institute of Health here in the U.S. did.
  
  It's 2 decades old so I hope the US has gotten better busses in the meantime because modern busses don't have this issue:
  "The study showed that a child riding inside a diesel school bus may be exposed to as much as 4 times the level of diesel exhaust as someone riding in a car ahead of it."
  The level of harm in that study was around 30 potential extra cases of cancer per million kids, that is fairly low considering the harm added by just general exhaust fumes for those living near busy roads. Even the study itself shows that living near a road frequented by trucks is more harmful.
  So my suggestion of just get public transit would be better remains mostly resolute, I would just add that use trains for cargo and not trucks.

102 comments