Lyon, France, June 12, 2012 ‐‐ After a week-long meeting of international experts, the InternationalAgency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), todayclassified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidencethat exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer.BackgroundIn 1988, IARC classified diesel exhaust as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). An Advisory Groupwhich reviews and recommends future priorities for the IARC Monographs Program had recommendeddiesel exhaust as a high priority for re-evaluation since 1998.There has been mounting concern about the cancer-causing potential of diesel exhaust, particularly basedon findings in epidemiological studies of workers exposed in various settings. This was re-emphasized bythe publication in March 2012 of the results of a large US National Cancer Institute/National Institute forOccupational Safety and Health study of occupational exposure to such emissions in underground miners,which showed an increased risk of death from lung cancer in exposed workers (1).
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