The U of A has received a federal grant to study the relationship between the exposure to and health effects of the use of underground mining equipment using diesel and biodiesel-blend fuels. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Mark Brodie has more.

MARK BRODIE: The grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health covers three years, and is worth almost one and a half million dollars. The Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering will work together on the project. According to a release from the university, the study’s results will help determine the effects of biodiesel-blend fuels among miners, and apply data to establish health effects, both positive and negative, of the fuel on non-miners exposed to biodiesel-blend fuels through vehicle emissions.