This is a one page article that summarizes the effects of diesel exhaust on school children. While it is an older article, much of it is still relevant.
1. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has identified diesel exhaust as a probable human carcinogen.
2. Diesel exhaust contains a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, fine particulates, and sulfur dioxide. It is really bad for human health.
3. Diesel exhaust has been implicated in asthma exacerbations.
4. Children riding in diesel school buses may be exposed to up to 4 times the level of diesel exhaust as people in nearby cars, especially if the bus windows are closed. (This depends on how new the bus is or whether there are good filters on the exhaust).
Electric school buses have no exhaust, and far lower maintenance costs (no oil changes, etc). So if the challenge of funding new buses can be solved, going electric is a really good solution. There are other strategies to reduce exposure to diesel exhaust (filters, no idling policies, etc.) but getting away from diesel as a fuel source is the best for health.
Remember this is only a one page paper, so it’s worth reading!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC121970/pdf/20020903s00035p505.pdf
