Exhaust gas that they produce smaller quantities of toxic pollutants (e.g. oxides of nitrogen) than petrol and diesel engines of the same power. They produce larger quantities of carbon dioxide but less carbon monoxide due to more efficient combustion. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health say preliminary results of their statistical study of children listed in the California Cancer Registry born between 1998 and 2007 found that traffic pollution may be associated with a 5% to 15% increase in the likelihood of some cancers. A World Health Organization study found that diesel fumes cause an increase
Diesel exhaust oxygen is usually present to burn the fuel completely. (The oxygen requirement in non-idling engines is usually mitigated using turbocharging.). From the particle emission standpoint, exhaust from diesel vehicles has been reported to be significantly more harmful than those from petrol vehicles. Diesel exhausts, long known for their characteristic smells, changed significantly with the reduction of sulfur content of diesel fuel, and again when catalytic converters were introduced in exhaust systems. Even so, diesel exhausts continue to contain an array of inorganic and organic pollutants, in various classes, and in varying concentrations (see below), depending on fuel composition and engine