Ethanol and Health Risks
Filed in archive Biofuel on April 28, 2007
I heard this argument before. Here is another article that talks about it.
The main argument here is that a high blend of ethanol and gasoline poses the same risk to public health than pure gasoline. A recent study puts the 2020 scenario (that not-so-distant year when ethanol-fueled vehicles are expected to be widely available) in perspective by looking at what comes out of the tail pipe of ethanol-using vehicles. Several scientists "coughed" after looking at the results of the computer simulations.
For one, using more ethanol blends lowered the levels of two carcinogens, benzene and butadiene. But it increased formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. Cancer rates are therefore similar whether or not we use ethanol. Ozone also increased which decreases lung capacity. That's two health effects already and the scientists believe there will be more, if we use ethanol.
My take is, is you have tolerated inhaling gasoline fumes for so long and knew that you are destroying the planet in the process, wont you try to do something to save at the very least one of them? Hey you can protect your health by not driving a car which is impractical for a lot of us. But protect the environment while driving is definitely do-able and more acceptable!
What is your take on the issue?

Permalink: Ethanol and Health Risks
Tags: Ethanol Gasoline Health Smog Ozone Cancer Disease Lung Carcinogen Emissions Renewable Energy energ
Vote for Ethanol and Health Risks:
|
Rating: 8.25 out of 4 vote(s) cast.
|
| RSS | |
|
| |
| Yahoo! |
|
| Addthis |
|
| Bloglines |
|
| Follow us on Twitter! |
Most Popular
Alternative Energy
Automobiles
Base Effort
Best of
Biofuel
Biogas
Biomass
Capital Investing
Carbon Neutral
Clean Coal
Current News
Did you know
Earth Science
Edge Technology
Electric Cars
Energy Efficiency
Fuel Prices
Future
Geothermal
Global Climate
