Harvard University Study Links Diabetes Epidemic to Airborne Soot

Over the past 15 years diabetes prevalence has more than doubled in the U.S. A major new study conducted by Harvard University researchers has established for the first time that particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air, a major component of diesel emissions, is linked to diabetes. Hundreds of medical studies have linked exposure to particulate matter to lung and heart disease and premature death, but this is the first nationwide study to quantitatively link diabetes to particulate matter exposure in U.S. cities.

Read the Allegheny County Partnership to Reduce Diesel Pollution’s press release here.

Also, check out the Post Gazette editorial, The dirt on diesel