The effects of the total exhaust emission with its hundreds of
different compounds and potential coergisms resulting therefrom,
with special reference to a potential carcinogenic or
cocarcinogenic effect on the respiratory tract, can only be
established using experiments which consider the exhaust with all
its gaseous components and particulate matter as a whole.
Long-term diesel and gasoline engine exhaust inhalatin studies
with rats, hamsters and mice which have already been accomplished
or are still running at the Fraunhofer-Institut für Toxikologie
und Aerosolforschung, aim to investigate the chronic-toxic effects,
as well as the potential carcinogencity or cocarcinogenicity of
exhaust emissions.
The combined effects of the exhaust gases with substances which
have a known carcinogenic effect on the respiratory tract are
integrated into a comprehensive experimental programme as is the
investigation of diesel engine exhaust gases from which particulate
matter has been removed using a centrifugal separator.
A description of the complex experimental plant necessary for
these experiments will be given and already existing test results
will be explained and discussed.