Date: 1/12/2007
Emissions from ocean-going ships are responsible for 60,000 deaths a year from heart and lung-related cancers, according to research that calls for tougher fuel standards. Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong, three of the worldâs five busiest ports, were likely to suffer disproportionate impacts from ship-related emissions, said the study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society. âFor a long time thereâs been this perception that ship emissions are out there in the ocean and donât affect anyone on land. This study shows that this is false,â said David Marshall, senior counsel at the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force, which co-commissioned the study. Scientists said the fact that shipping takes place on the high seas was part of the reason the industryâs fuel standards lagged those of the car industry.