DICE Study

Chronic exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes: e.g. cognitive impairment, vascular diseases, and increased morbidity and mortality associated respiratory illness, and DE has been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Both chronic and acute exposures to DE have been associated with respiratory illnesses; chronic DE exposure is associated with lung fibrosis and acute exposure to DE is associated with increased asthma exacerbations reflected in reduced lung function, and increased wheezing.

Prominent pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms linking DE exposure to negative health outcomes include increased inflammation, oxidative stress and airway resistance. However, these molecular signatures are not specific to DE exposure, have poorly- defined dose-response relationships, and are derived from body fluids and tests that are inconvenient, expensive, and time-consuming to access and analyze. Therefore, the broad goal of this project is to elucidate a more robust signature of exposure to DE that can offer both mechanistic insight as well as temporal and, importantly, dose-response resolution. Such signature specificity and resolution will be crucial in informing both provincial and national policy and decision-makers as they work towards reasonable limits to occupational DE exposure and devise practical monitoring program.