Diesel Fumes From Ports Raising Cancer Risk in Region, Study Says

It is the first state study that shows that air pollution from the ports is increasing cancer risk in the Los Angeles Basin, said Jerry Martin, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, which released a draft of the study Tuesday.

The study concludes that potential cancer risk from port-related diesel fumes exceeds 50 additional cases of cancer per million people for residents within 15 miles of the two ports.

Two million people live within the study area, which includes southern Los Angeles County and western Orange County.

Studies show that one in four Californians will get some form of cancer from all causes, including diet, lifestyle and environmental causes, amounting to a cancer risk of 250,000 in a million, regulators say.

"What we are saying is that on top of that, 100 [in the study area] are going to have cancer for no other reason than the diesel pollution from the ports," Martin said. He said lung cancer is the primary risk from diesel fumes. Lung cancer is usually fatal.

The 53,000 people who live nearest the two seaports face a risk exceeding 500 in a million from port pollution alone, according to the study.

Under state law, fixed facilities such as refineries and dry cleaners must post warnings if the potential cancer risk exceeds 10 additional cases of cancer per million people. In the Los Angeles area, polluters must prepare detailed plans and slash emissions if the risk exceeds 25 cases per million.

The sources of much of the diesel exhaust, however, are not covered by those rules because ships, trains, trucks and cargo equipment are considered "mobile sources" that are regulated less stringently.

That distinction has handcuffed local and state regulators who are attempting to reduce port pollution.

Air experts call the latest study the most thorough to date of the potential health problems caused by pollution at the adjacent seaports, the two largest in the nation.

Earlier research had found that diesel fumes accounted for 71% of the cancer risk associated with air pollution in the Los Angeles region.

Other reports have looked at cancer risk from a variety of sources. But the state study is the first comprehensive look at the cancer risk of diesel fumes generated within the ports. The fumes are especially harmful to children and the elderly.