The majority of the ground transporation in the United States runs on diesel fuel. It powers most of the fleet of large vehicles that travel around Wisconsin and across country moving products and people. My family uses diesel fuel in all the large tractors that plant and harvest the 1,200+ acres of crops on the farm as well in the semitrailer that hauls the final product to market. Diesel also fuels a small portion of the passenger vehicles that people drive every day in the United States, including the car that is my main mode of transport. However, exposure to diesel exhaust can have negative effects on human health, and recent reports have found an increased risk of lung cancer. While these studies documented heavy exposure levels (miners underground with diesel generators), people still wonder about the effect of exposure when behind a truck spewing dark exhaust. A recent PLoS ONE article examined the effect of diesel exhaust particles on mouse cardiovascular systems and how treating with curcumin attenuated the negative effects. Continue reading “Curcumin Moderates the Health Effects of Diesel Exhaust”