Exhaust emissions: what are they?

[The Straight Story]

Exhaust emissions: what are they?

The exhaust fumes from a car or lorry’s engine contains a large number of different chemicals or emissions.

Once released into the air, exhaust emissions are breathed in and transported in the bloodstream to all the body's major organs. Diesel seems potentially to be more of a problem than petrol.

Potentially dangerous vehicle emissions include:

Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Sulphur dioxide
Benzene
Formaldehyde
Polycyclic hydrocarbons
Lead
Tiny suspended particles (‘particulate matter’)

What are the risks?

Although research has clearly linked exhaust emissions to a range of health problems in the population, the exact risk to any individual is difficult to define. However there is no doubt that the more you are exposed the greater the risk is likely to be and some people, for example those who already have respiratory conditions such as asthma or bronchitis, are especially vulnerable.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/exhaust_emissions.shtml

[meow2u3]

1. Catalytic converters installed in cars may play a small part...

...in the proliferation of greenhouse gases. I'm sure the logging industry and other polluters cause a lot more damage.

The law of unintended consequences strikes again. In an effort to reduce emissions such as lead, carbon monoxide, etc., Catalytic converters have been required in cars from the mid to late 1970s on. This illustrates the law of unintended consequences, in that emission reduction measures intended to reduce emissions like CO, etc. turned out to replace one dangerous exhaust emission with another: CO2 from CO. I don't know if the engineers from 30 years ago knew about the effects of excess CO2 on the world's average temperatures.

[onethatcares]

2. exhaust emissions are

a way to fine folks that have an older vehicle that emits about 1/billionth of the amount of a coal processing plant. better to take money from the masses than to actually do something about the emissions.

My numbers maight be way off but they are true.