Filling Stations Across Europe Ordered to Extract Cancerous Vapour

Fuel pumps across Europe will have to install new equipment to suck up cancerous vapour that escapes when people fill their tanks, under a new European Union measure adopted on Thursday.

Existing law only obliged forecourts to capture dangerous emissions released during re-stocking of pumps, with the changes forcing companies to extract at least 85 percent of harmful gases released on-site.

"Petrol vapour contains the carcinogen benzene as well as hydrocarbons, which can form ground-level ozone, a pollutant harmful to human health and ecosystems," according to an EU statement.

The new rules apply to all but the smallest of filling stations for new constructions or refits, with the biggest, those shifting more than 3,000 cubic metres per year, given until 2018 to install the new technology.

Source: AFP
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