Harmfulness of car exhaust fumes
Do you work in a workspace where you smell exhaust fumes? You are at risk of illness caused by inhaling toxic chemicals
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Engine exhaust fumes are a mixture of various chemicals harmful to human health that are created as a result of fuel combustion, as reported by the World Health Organization in a 2012 report.
These emissions contain over 40 substances classified as hazardous air pollutants, including 15 known to be carcinogenic to humans. Exhaust fumes may appear as visible grey or black smoke, but they can also be invisible, making their presence even more insidious.
The Impact of Exhaust Fumes on Human Health
Even short-term contact with exhaust fumes can result in dizziness, headaches, drowsiness, nausea, blurred vision, irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, vomiting and even difficulty breathing.
In the case of long-term contact with exhaust fumes, the scale of the health risk increases dangerously. Then there is a risk of asthma, circulatory system diseases, lung cancer, bladder cancer, colon cancer and even prostate cancer.
Health prevention
Studies conducted in Europe and the USA show that engine exhaust fumes have carcinogenic, cardiotoxic and neurotoxic properties.
Employees exposed to exhaust fumes are classified as people at increased risk of developing occupational diseases, so health prevention is necessary. Prevention means actions aimed at preventing diseases. An essential element of prevention is raising awareness of invisible threats, the effects of which manifest themselves in pathological changes within 5-10 years.
It's your duty to take care of your health
According to art. 211 point 5 of the Labor Code in Poland, the employee is obliged to undergo initial, periodic and control medical examinations and other examinations ordered by doctors.
If it is necessary to perform examinations, the doctor should be provided with detailed information about the occurrence of harmful factors or conditions burdensome to health at the performed position. This will facilitate the determination of the physical and mental characteristics, health condition or course of the candidate’s or employee’s illness.