I have been warned to avoid diesel as it lower your IQ significantly, cause cancer, heart disease, increase birth defects/impotency,

Q

QPiepelr65

Ford Transit Connect
I was posting on reddit and a user replied this

Regardless of ecological effects, you should really convert to LPG because desiel fumes are significantly worse for your health. They lower your IQ significantly, cause cancer, heart disease, increase birth defects/impotency, and a litany of other issues. It very likely permenantly damages your DNA, at some level, at any amount of exposure. Stay away from desiel fumes.
If you are using the disel while parked, I would think you are exposing yourself to significantly worse air pollution than if you are driving. If you can smell it, you are in danger.
Definitely do NOT use wood instead as a source for heat. The particulate and PAHs that are produced in its smoke are just about as dangerous. Studies show that heating your house with wood is roughly as dangerous as a 1-2 pack a day smoking habbit.
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I looked at their post history and they seem to be a chemistry buff which made me take note they may know what they are talking about.

It got me thinking, I know that the fumes are vented but still the vans are not hermetically sealed are they so some fumes could still leak in and also perhaps a little from the appliance itself. If using every day, at least in the winter months for heating, and for cooking then could this not build up in the body.

So simply for the health impacts I am wondering if it would be better to look to lpg, perhaps with a vented exhausting heater for dry heat, which I read do exist, though pricier than their diesel counterparts, and cooking as standard.
 
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QPiepelr65 said:
I was posting on reddit and a user replied this



I looked at their post history and they seem to be a chemistry buff which made me take note they may know what they are talking about.

It got me thinking, I know that the fumes are vented but still the vans are not hermetically sealed are they so some fumes could still leak in and also perhaps a little from the appliance itself. If using every day, at least in the winter months for heating, and for cooking then could this not build up in the body.

So simply for the health impacts I am wondering if it would be better to look to lpg, perhaps with a vented exhausting heater for dry heat, which I read do exist, though pricier than their diesel counterparts, and cooking as standard.
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Reading your post today after reading your post on Saturday I think you should chuck another log on the fire and stay off the internet.
 
Love the “ignore” option. Worrying it states resides in Wales! Probably a Dripford follower…..
 
I can believe that diesel fumes are certainly bad for you, although exactly how bad is somewhat difficult to measure.

However, the wood smoke one I find really odd. According to the estimates I can find, humans have been using wood fires for over a million years, you would imagine that evolution would have something to say about it over that time period?

Anyway, if you want something to actually worry about, I'd go for crap processed food and sugar - that stuff really is killing you....
 
Where do 100% of the products of combustion go from a gas burner?
If you’re worried about your van life air quality think about the hundreds of thousands of people who are cooking with gas in their homes with a non-extracting cooker hood.
I have a good friend who’s one of the world leading researchers into COPD caused by particulates, he never knew anything about DPFs being installed on Diesel vehicles.
Some times the experts don’t have all the information.
 
QPiepelr65 said:
I was posting on reddit and a user replied this



I looked at their post history and they seem to be a chemistry buff which made me take note they may know what they are talking about.

It got me thinking, I know that the fumes are vented but still the vans are not hermetically sealed are they so some fumes could still leak in and also perhaps a little from the appliance itself. If using every day, at least in the winter months for heating, and for cooking then could this not build up in the body.

So simply for the health impacts I am wondering if it would be better to look to lpg, perhaps with a vented exhausting heater for dry heat, which I read do exist, though pricier than their diesel counterparts, and cooking as standard.
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Did they give a link to peer-reviewed research?
 
It’s a big leap from the likely exposure in real life to OmG tHe KEMIKULZ wiLl Eat Ur BrAin!!11!

Yes the fumes are harmful which is why we make sure they exhaust outside the van so they can be diluted before we breathe them in, and put mitigation on the main source (vehicle engine exhaust). I wouldn’t want to use diesel as massage oil, and there are many reasons to minimise its use, but acute and chronic toxicity are low on the list in normal domestic use. A housemate did a study once of fuel pump attendants, wearing monitoring devices looking for Benzene (and other hydrocarbon) concentrations, and found that their exposure was minimal. On the other hand, a post doc supervisor I had used to run benzene separations on the bench, and it got him in the end.

There are many characters on the internet who look at some components, then look up the safety data sheets, or that WHO site where everything apart from water and (IIRC) lactose are possible carcinogens.

I would question some random on the internet claiming ‘studies show’. Which studies? Where are they published etc. I agree a bonfire in the middle of a Viking Longhouse is bad for COPD, but a well maintained wood stove is a different thing. Also the impact on the individual may be different to the overall impact of many users on the environment and population.
 
drinfinity said:
but a well maintained wood stove is a different thing. Also the impact on the individual may be different to the overall
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I realise it's the Guardian but......
www.theguardian.com

Wood burners emit more particle pollution than traffic, UK data shows

Revised government data estimates a lower proportion of pollution comes from wood stoves but they remain a ‘major contributor’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Don't start me on hydrogen boilers.
Hydrogen H and air N,O in, water H2O and NOx out.
Aren't diesel drivers going through a world of pain (EGR) to cut our NOx?
 
I’ve got quite a few tonnes of logs which I’ve collected locally, cut up, split and now burning daily, all for free, all downed trees that would otherwise rot and release the same amount of harmful gasses.
Or I could buy a small plastic net bag of softwood in Morrisons for £8 that’s been dried with electricity and then trucked across the country.
There is no magic solution, just common sense.
 
TrevorK said:
I realise it's the Guardian but......
www.theguardian.com

Wood burners emit more particle pollution than traffic, UK data shows

Revised government data estimates a lower proportion of pollution comes from wood stoves but they remain a ‘major contributor’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Don't start me on hydrogen boilers.
Hydrogen H and air N,O in, water H2O and NOx out.
Aren't diesel drivers going through a world of pain (EGR) to cut our NOx?
Click to expand...
Wood burners are very cute, and I have a wood burning pizza oven. Makes very nice pizzas, but gets through lots of wood and generates industrial levels of soot, so not great for everyday use.

Hydrogen in fossil fuel style boilers is a bad idea for lots of reasons, but catalytic conversion systems operating at lower temperatures don’t generate NOx, so could be a better option for high energy density needs (like vehicles).
 
drinfinity said:
Wood burners are very cute, and I have a wood burning pizza oven. Makes very nice pizzas, but gets through lots of wood and generates industrial levels of soot, so not great for everyday use.

Hydrogen in fossil fuel style boilers is a bad idea for lots of reasons, but catalytic conversion systems operating at lower temperatures don’t generate NOx, so could be a better option for high energy density needs (like vehicles).
Click to expand...
A wood burning pizza oven is a very different thing.
New log burning stoves are more tightly regulated in terms of emissions, the current 2023 regs mandate a 40% reduction in particulate matter over the previous regs.
(although of course there are many older ones that wouldn't meet the current standards, as it is with vehicles)
Burning properly seasoned wood in a modern log burner reduces soot significantly compared to an old fireplace.
 
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