Researchers in Japan have recorded abnormalities in electrocardiograms (ECG) and increased incidents of miscarriages in mice that were exposed to diesel fuel exhaust fumes. The research was conducted by a team from the National Institute for Environmental Studies, the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.

The team recorded the ECGs of a group of mice that were exposed to diesel emissions for nine months and 12 hours a day. Of the 15 mice that breathed the dirty air, abnormal ECGs were recorded in four, compared with only one in the 15 that breathed clean air. The team also found that when female mice, breathing in clean air were mated with mice exposed to the diesel fumes, there was increased incidence of miscarriage and newborn deaths.