diesel leaves foul taste in mouth

For a while now, everytime I get back from cycling I have this foul taste in my mouth. At first I blamed it on the new sports drink. But after monitoring it for a while I realised that it does not happen when I train indoors, it only happens outdoors.
So I started taking mental notes of things like the amount of traffic and my average hear rate over the ride inorder to pin point what the cause is. What I noted was that I would get the foul taste mainly when there was alot of traffic, but occasionaly I'd get it when there was not much traffic.
I then started mentally noting the type of vehicles that were around when I got this foul taste. This is when I discovered that it was mainly trucks around at the time. So my conclusion was that it was the diesel fumes that were leaving me with a foul taste in my mouth.

Last night I took 2 full shot of diesel exhaust fumes from a truck I was passing and when I got home of was physicaly sick (nauseus (sp?) ) and the taste in my mouth only went away after I washed my mouth out with lesterine.

My next step will be to monitor what time there are the least amount of trucks and then plan my cycling around that. Right now the taste has come back into my mouth, me thinks I filled my lungs with evil diesel fumes.

 

Keep in mind that diesel exhaust is quite carcinogenic. I'd change routes if at all possible.

Tim

 

Diesel is considerbly less regulated that gasolene.
It has several times the amount of particulates.
It has literly hundreds of identified & unidentified carbon, benzene, & sulfur coumpounds. (Both sulfides and sulfates) If this were a rational world diesel vehicles would require stringint polution controls.

 

I've also noticed that when riding up to an intersection, drivers want to take off in front of you and put the foot down causing smoke to come out the back of the S***box cars, leaving me in a plume of their toxic fumes. This is really noticeable when you are going hard and sucking in the air.

 

Just a note: I own a diesel car and yes the sulfur levels in current US diesel rot gut fuel is at 500ppm. This causes all the black smoke you see from trucks and buses (and some diesel cars).
The GOOD news....in 2006, EPA mandated "Tier 2" fuel standards must be in effect (meaning the changeover should start in 2005) and will require reduction of diesel sulfur content to 15 ppm. After this happens...say goodbye to all the black diesel soot you see (smell and taste) now!!

This change should happen unless GW Bush decides to act as "King George W." (provided he's reelected) and derail the mandate somehow. Let's hope not!

 

I may be mistaken but I think he's already been successful at rolling back the new regs. The Detroit lobby has deep pockets and dubya takes care of his buds.

Tim

 

Tim: I hope you're wrong! I would think the more immediate beneficiaries of a rollback on that date would be his oil producing butt boys in TX. They don;t want to retool the refineries to "scrub" the fuel cleaner.

Nothing like a president that thinks he's the almighty. "Screw congress and the senate that supreme court judge is goin' in baby!"

"Let them choke on fumes!" ("Let them eat cake!")

Hubboy!!!