Diesel exhaust is a known mutagen and a potential human carcinogen.
Recent epidemiological studies have demonstrated a small increase in the risk of lung cancer from diesel exhaust exposure. However, many epidemiological studies have used crude estimates of exposure, and even accurate measures of exposure may not be accurate estimates of the internal dose received. Measurement of diesel exhaust exposure also has been limited by the absence of a standard marker. This study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of urinary mutagenicity as a biological marker of diesel exhaust exposure in the workplace. We measured the exposure of individual railroad workers to diesel exhaust by using personal air samples taken over two consecutive work shifts.