The Natural Resources Defense Council report cited in your March 9 article "The Old Yellow School Bus as a Threat" is an unreliable source. The report was not reviewed by peers for accuracy and does not offer sufficient data or details to support its assertion that exposure to diesel fumes on school buses increases childhood risk of cancer.
The report claims that children are more susceptible to the unhealthy effects of diesel exhaust, but does not cite studies or references to verify this claim, probably because no such studies exist. And the report makes claims that rising and falling diesel exhaust levels very with the opening and closing of windows in buses, but does not give quantitative comparison data.
Kimberly Bowman
New York
Research Intern, American Council on Science and Health
