Mayor Bloomberg's crude intentions: City Hall green team
pushing landlords to use clean-burning oil
By Adam Lisberg DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF Thursday, December 31st 2009, 4:00 AM
Residential building chimneys belch pollutants into chilly
Manhattan skyline Wednesday.
Mayor Bloomberg's environmental team wants to stop big
apartment and office buildings from belching smoke into
New York skies - but landlords say that will mean higher
rents.
"The goal is to have New York City have the cleanest air
of any big city in America," said Rohit Aggarwala, Bloomberg's chief environmental adviser. "This
is really about air quality and public health."
In the next few months, the city plans to introduce a regulation to phase out the cheapest - and
dirtiest - types of fuel oil. The proposed rule would force new buildings to use cleaner heating oil
or natural gas, and eliminate old boilers over 15 years.
The dirty oil looks like black sludge, spews soot and pollution when burned, and is used in less
than 1% of New York buildings - mostly in Manhattan, but also in the Bronx. That's the same area
where a recent Health Department survey found high levels of street-level air pollution in the
winter heating season.
Building owners and apartment managers don't dispute the environmental benefits of cleaner oil,
but say New Yorkers can't afford the cost - up to $150,000 to change a building's boilers, plus up
to 30% more a gallon.
"They've kicked the idea around for a year," said Frank Ricci of the Rent Stabilization Association,
which represents apartment building owners. "We're supporting of cleaning up the environment
as best we can, but there's a cost factor involved."
Environmental groups say switching over will cost most building owners far less, and often pays
for itself through more efficient combustion and lower maintenance costs.
City officials have met with real estate and oil industry groups to try to find a middle ground.
"We've been working with everybody from the environmentalists who want to get rid of the bad oil
one month, to the real estate industry that wants to work on it over 100 years," said one
administration official.
Building owners say the cost is too much to bear.
The city is familiar with the costs. It has 420 public schools that burn dirty oil, and has plans to
convert just 100 of them by 2017 - at $5.7 million a school.
Asthma is a respiratory disease, it is accompanied by respiratory symptoms such as wheezing, coughing,
and chest tightness. Asthma is poorly understood. Causes of asthma can be genetic (from your family),
allergies, tobacco smoke, socioeconomic status, nutrition, low birth weight, history of infections, and air
pollution.
Asthma in Bronx County
Bronx County has some of the highest rates of asthma in the United States. Rates of death from asthma in
the Bronx are about three times higher than the national average. Hospitalization rates are about five times
higher. In some neighborhoods in the
Bronx it is estimated that 20% of the
children have asthma. According to a
study, hospitalization rates for asthma
in Bronx County and East Harlem are
21 times higher than those of affluent
(richer) parts of the city.
As the graph shows, Bronx County
has the highest pediatric asthma
(children 0-4 years) in the New York
area. Manhattan has the second
highest rate.
Asthma has been linked to a number
of pollutants. The most commonly
studied are the criteria pollutants which are regulated in the United States by the Clean Air Act. The criteria
pollutants are carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3),
particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and lead (Pb). Laboratory studies suggest that pollutants can attach
themselves to allergens such as pollen and increase their allergic reactions.
Recent attention has been focused on diesel exhaust particles. Diesel exhaust is of particular concern to
residents of the South Bronx because a large number of diesel trucks drive to and from waste transfer
stations and other commercial destinations in the area.
Smog lowers kids' IQs, even before they're
born, shows New York study
BY BRIAN KATES
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
MONDAY, JULY 20TH 2009, 8:13 AM
A study conducted in New York has linked lower IQ scores
in 5-year-olds to prenatal pollution.
Warning: Smog lowers kids' IQs, even before they're born.
The five-year-old children of city mothers who regularly
breathed in car- and truck-polluted air when they were
pregnant scored significantly lower on IQ tests than kids
with less exposure, a study released Monday found.
The 249 moms tested -- all from the South Bronx and
upper Manhattan -- wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of
pregnancy.
Their pre-schoolers scored four or five points lower on IQ tests than kids who were not exposed to
pollution.
That's a big difference that could affect school performance, said Frederica Perera, director of the
Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, who led the study.
The findings suggest that pre-natal (before birth) exposure to air pollution could have the same
harmful effects on brain development as lead exposure, and helps explain why inner city kids
often do worse academically than wealthier youngsters, said Patrick Breysse, an environmental
health specialist at Johns Hopkins' school of public health.
Scientists said more study is needed to rule out the possibility that exposure to pollution after they
were born contributed to the children's low scores.
The researchers said they plan to continuing monitoring and testing the children to learn whether
school performance is affected and if there are any additional long-term effects.
Gasp! All smog deadly
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23RD 2008, 12:22 AM
WASHINGTON - Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature (early)
deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air
pollution, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded Tuesday.
The findings contradict arguments made by some White House officials that the connection
between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently, and that the number of
saved lives should not be calculated in determining clean air benefits.
"The committee has concluded from its review of health-based evidence that short-term exposure
to ambient ozone is likely to contribute to premature deaths," the 13-member panel said.
It added that "studies have shown strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can
exacerbate (make worse) lung conditions, causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially
lead to death."
Ground-level ozone is formed from nitrogen oxide and organic compounds created by burning
fossil fuels and is demonstrated often by the yellow haze or smog that lingers in the air. Ozone
exposure is a leading cause of respiratory illnesses and especially affects the elderly, those with
respiratory problems and children.
Environmentalists and health advocates have argued that a string of health studies and surveys
show that exposure to smoggy air not only aggravates (worsens) respiratory problems, but causes
thousands of deaths a year.
WORLD REPORT: October 22, 1999 Vol.5 No.6
Cover Story
Attacking Asthma
Christopher Blackmon was only 4 when he had his first attack, but he remembers it well. He was playing
outside with his relatives at a cousin's graduation. Suddenly, he says, "I started wheezing, and I couldn't
breathe." His mom whisked him to the hospital, where a doctor explained why Christopher was struggling
for air. He had the breathing disorder called asthma (az-mah).
Christopher, now 9, is one of 5 million American kids under 18 who suffer from asthma. That's 1 out of 10
kids! Doctors say asthma attacks are the Number 1 reason American children miss school. Health officials
have become alarmed by the rising rate of childhood asthma. The increase is especially steep among
African-American kids. Asthma is three to four times as common among them as among white children.
The jump in the number of asthma cases is probably caused by a combination of factors, says Davis. For
one thing, more kids seem to be inheriting the disease. Also, children spend more time indoors than they did
in the past. Instead of getting plenty of fresh air, they are breathing in lots of dust, viruses, mold spores,
smoke and, in some cases, the droppings of cockroaches and mice. Kids' lungs can be sensitive to these
things. Many African-American kids live in cities, where the air is especially bad both indoors and out.
What Is Asthma?
To understand asthma, you have to know a little about the respiratory system. Usually when you breathe in,
air travels through tubes that connect your nose and mouth to your lungs. These branching tubes get
narrower and narrower until they reach the lungs. They are made of muscle and lined on the inside with
special mucus-producing cells.
During an asthma attack, two things usually happen. First, the muscles of the tiniest tubes, called
bronchioles, start to squeeze in, so the openings get even narrower. Think of trying to drink through a very
skinny straw, and you'll have an idea of what it's like to breathe during an asthma attack. At the same time,
the cells that line the tubes start to swell up like balloons, releasing extra mucus and taking up even more of
the space where air should be. No wonder asthmatic kids have to gasp for breath.
What makes the muscles start to squeeze tight? Many things. Doctors believe that if you have asthma, your
breathing tubes are "twitchy," or extra sensitive to a lot of things. Things that you are allergic to, for
example, can make the tubes start to tighten and cause an attack. Exercising can sometimes trigger an
asthma attack too. When you exercise, your body is warmer than the air you breathe, and this temperature
difference can make your bronchioles start to squeeze.
Living with Asthma
The good news is that there are a lot of ways to treat asthma. At the meeting last week, Dr. Frederick
Leickly of the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, described the newest
kind of medicine taken once a day. It prevents an attack by making the respiratory system relaxed and less
sensitive to dust and other "allergens."
Many kids use medicine only if they feel an attack coming. Inhalers are spray devices that squirt medicine
into the mouth and throat to open up the breathing tubes and let more air through.
Sadly, not all children with asthma are getting the medicine they need. Leickly told the other doctors that
they need to work with families to "make asthma treatment more practical."
Kids with asthma can help prevent an attack by staying away from things they are allergic to. Christopher,
for example, works hard to avoid the trigger for his asthma--dust. He keeps his room very clean, and his
mother has taken out his carpet, which trapped dust.
Knowing how to avoid attacks and how to handle them when they happen is important for anyone with
asthma. When he has an attack, says Christopher, "I know what to do. So I'm not scared."
Wiping Out Smog And Soot
Yuck! as you wait to cross the street, a huge truck rumbles by and blasts a smelly black cloud of smoke in
your face. But the truck's fumes don't just stink up the neighborhood. Dirty chemicals from factories and
engines foul the nation's skies and threaten everyone's health.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to do something about this threat. This government
agency has proposed tough new limits on two big parts of air pollution: ground-level ozone gas and dusty
stuff called particulate matter.
Targeting Soot And Smog
Ground-level ozone, or smog, is the haze that hangs over cities on hot summer days. (You may have heard
of the ozone layer above the earth. That faraway ozone is protective, not harmful.) Particulates (par-tickyou-lets), or soot, are tiny flecks of dust, as small as one-seventh the width of human hair. Both come from
cars, trucks, factories and construction.
Smog and soot soil the earth's sky, land and water. They cause serious illnesses, including asthma and other
breathing problems that have been on the rise in America. The American Lung Association and other health
groups have been especially worried about dust particles, which irritate the lungs. Thousands of Americans
die each year as a result of air pollution.
The EPA's new limits would allow less than a third of the soot now permitted to enter the air. For the first
time, even the tiniest particles would be controlled. The rules on ozone would be tightened even more
sharply. Regions that failed to meet the limits would lose federal highway funds and other money. The rules
are part of a move to toughen the Clean Air Act of 1970.
"The current standards fail to provide enough health protection, especially to children," says EPA
administrator Carol Browner. She calls the new proposal "one of the most important decisions I will make
to protect public health."
Are The Standards Too Strict?
Before the new limits are official, the EPA must listen to public reaction. Some politicians and
businesspeople are complaining about the new standards. It's possible that Congress will block the new
rules. Industry leaders say they can't afford to spend billions of dollars to change the way their factories
work. They say that current standards are strict enough and that changes will hurt the economy.
Factories aren't the only places that would have to make changes. Hundreds of cities and towns are too
polluted to meet the new standards. These communities would have to work with the EPA to create more
carpools, public transportation and smog checks on cars.
Cities might even have to pass new laws governing how families heat their homes, mow their lawns, dispose
of garbage and conduct other activities that release dangerous fumes. Says California environmental official
Jane Hall: "We'll be looking at the burners on your home furnace before this is over."
Clear Skies Ahead?
Cleaning up the air has never been cheap or easy. The EPA estimates it will cost at least $6.5 billion to
make the changes needed to meet the new standards. The biggest burden will fall on the largest polluters,
such as diesel-engine users and power plants.
Is it worth it? The new standards would save 20,000 lives a year, according to the EPA. They would prevent
a lot of illness. And for the 133 million Americans who now live in polluted areas, they would truly bring a
breath of fresh air.
Breathing Bad Air
July 24, 2002
Millions of Americans wake up summer mornings to news
about how unhealthy their air is.
And although many states have air that is much cleaner than it
was 20 years ago, studies show over half of all Americans
breathe polluted air.
Where we live
The pollution problem is caused, in part, by expanding cities and suburbs. Many cities
in the U.S. are overcrowded, forcing housing builders to start new communities on
land outside city limits. This spread of housing developments and strip malls is called
“urban sprawl.”
In places like Atlanta, Washington, New York, people who live in these suburban
communities drive almost everywhere, including their jobs. And as more people move
to the suburbs and commute to the city, the levels of traffic and pollution increase.
Quality of air
As cars sit in traffic, they burn gasoline and give off pollutants
called hydro-carbons and nitrogen oxides. When sunlight hits
these compounds, they form ozone, a dangerous form of
oxygen. Ozone creates smog and makes daily life difficult for
people across the country.
Every day, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measures
the levels of ozone and other pollutants in the air with the “Air Quality Index” (AQI).
The index has colors to show how high the pollution is that day. An AQI below 100
means the air pollution poses little risk. If the AQI registers “red days” (from 100-150
or above), people may notice a change in how well they can
breathe outside.
Polluted air causes all kinds of health risks including damage
to the lungs and airways. Ozone creates a chemical reaction
in the body that can make lung tissue inflamed, red, and
swollen. Even healthy people who exercise in places with a
high AQI will feel tightness in the chest.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that longterm exposure to the air pollution in some of America’s biggest cities greatly raises
the risk of dying from lung cancer and can be as dangerous as living with a smoker.
Almost 400 cities in the U.S. have smog levels above the legal limits.
The worst areas
The EPA lists the Los Angeles metro area as the most heavily
ozone-polluted metropolitan area in the country. In fact, the five
smoggiest counties in the country are all in California.
However, Los Angeles and many other areas of the country have
made significant progress in cleaning up their air. Los Angeles
has had 85 percent fewer “red days” in the late 1990s than in
the early 1980s. Other places known for dirty air, like Houston, Texas, have also had
fewer red days in the past two decades.
Even the worst days in Los Angeles are nothing compared to
some cities in China, where the AQI can rise above 250.
Lanzhou, the city with the worst air quality, plans to remove the
top of a local mountain to try to bring fresh air into the city.
The United States has laws aimed at making the air cleaner. The
Clean Air Act, and additional measures passed in 1997, set
tough emission standards. And California's governor just signed
a law with even tougher pollution guidelines that he hopes will catch on as other
leaders feel political pressure to address an issue as important as the air we breathe.
-- By Samara Aberman, NewsHour Extra
Smoggiest U.S. Cities
Danger In The Air: Ingredients Of Pollution
EXTREMELY BAD
Los Angeles,
California
Pollutant: Ozone
Source: Cars, factories, landfills. Ozone gas is formed when the
sun's heat causes oxygen to react with other chemicals.
Danger: Breathing problems, possible lung infections, eye
irritation, serious damage to plants.
Pollutant: Particulate Matter (soot and dust)
Source: Factories, cars, smoke from burning
wood, and dust from construction.
Danger: Breathing problems, eye irritation. Also
makes air look dirty and harms plants.
Pollutant: Carbon Monoxide
Source: Cars, buses, trucks, factories.
Danger: Headaches, dizziness, heart damage.
Pollutant: Sulfur Dioxide
Source: Factories and furnaces.
Danger: Breathing problems. Harms plants and
waterways.
VERY BAD
Chicago, Illinois
Houston, Texas
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
New York, New York
BAD
Baltimore, Maryland
Sacramento, California
Pollutant: Nitrogen Oxides
Source: Factories, cars, trucks, coal-burning stoves.
Danger: Harms plants, causes breathing problems for humans and
reacts in the atmosphere to cause acid rain.
Pollutant: Lead
Source: Cars, trucks or buses that have lead in
their fuel; factories.
Danger: Harms the brain, kidneys and blood.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
How air pollution hurts your kids' lungs
Mon April 21, 2008
Children are more vulnerable than adults to air pollution's effects.
Children's lungs don't fully form until they are adolescents.
Breathing difficulties can hurt oxygen supply to growing brain.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Twice a day, 7-year-old Hannah Austin exhales all the air from her
lungs. She then takes a puff of a low-dose steroid from a purple inhaler, holds her breath for a few
seconds and exhales. Hannah Austin's asthma was diagnosed last summer after she grew short
of breath while swimming.
Like nearly 7 million other children in the United States, Hannah, a second-grader from Smyrna,
Georgia, has asthma. This simple exercise with the inhaler allows her to breathe easier.
But on a day when the air quality is poor, she often struggles to catch her breath.
"We know that environmental pollutants have a very significant impact on children with asthma,"
said Dr. Avril Beckford, a pediatrician in Austell, Georgia. Children are more vulnerable to the
effects of air pollution because their lungs don't fully form until they are adolescents, the American
Academy of Pediatrics noted. The leading pediatricians group added that "because children
spend more time outdoors than do adults, they have increased exposure to outdoor air pollution."
"If you live near a polluted area of a city, it's like the child is smoking," said best-selling author and
pediatrician Bill Sears. "We all know what smoking does for the lungs." Sears called the long-term
effect of air pollution on a developing child devastating. "Children do not grow as well because
they do not breathe as well. The brain really needs a lot of oxygen. They don't think as well. They
don't learn as well."
Hannah's asthma was diagnosed last summer. Her mother, Drew Austin, became alarmed when
she noticed that Hannah was short of breath while swimming. "When her asthma is really bad,
she just gets lethargic and starts coughing," Austin said.
Coughing, wheezing or whistling when exhaling, and shortness of breath are some of the most
common symptoms of asthma in children. Sears warned that the symptoms can lead to poor
sleep habits. "When the child wakes up in the morning with a runny nose and baggy eyes, you can
tell they didn't sleep well because they were coughing in the night," he said.
Proper diagnosis and treatment can help manage asthma symptoms. Experts also recommend
that people with asthma avoid indoor and outdoor allergens and irritants.
Indoor triggers include dust mites, mold, furry pets, tobacco smoke and certain chemicals.
Outdoor irritants range from pollen to cold air to air pollution.
Michael Chang, an atmospheric research scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in
Atlanta, estimated that 50 percent of air pollutants are created by cars and trucks. He explained
many parts of the U.S. are now transitioning to higher temperatures and more humid summers.
"We don't have the winds that blow things out of the air," Chang said. "The stuff we put into the
atmosphere lingers longer." He compared the air quality in many big cities to a chemical soup of
thousands of compounds, including ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. The
Environmental Protection Agency describes ground-level ozone as the primary component of
smog. It includes motor vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, gasoline vapors and chemical
solvents. Chang's office is responsible for monitoring air quality and issuing smog alerts in
Atlanta. He also tries to educate residents by telling them to pay attention to the warnings.
"Jogging late in the afternoon during the summer is not the best time," Chang said. "Ground-level
ozone is at its worst at that time of day."
Beckford goes one step further, warning parents to not choose a house, school or playground that
is close to a busy road or a highway. She tells her young patients to get their exercise earlier in
the day, when the air is cleaner. Beckford also urges children such as Hannah to take control of
their asthma by taking their medicine as directed and learning to use their inhalers properly.
She may be only 7, but Hannah has found one more way to control her symptoms and prevent an
asthma attack. She watches the news and checks local Web sites to monitor the daily air quality,
to see whether it is safe for her to play outside. Her mother said, "I hate to have her environment
controlling what she can do. I want her to be able to control and make those choices."
Air pollution
Last updated: April 1, 2010.
From cigarette smoke to global warming, air pollution has many
different causes and affects us in many different ways. Pause a moment
to make a list of all the different types of air pollution you come across
in a single day and you might be surprised. How about car exhausts or
garden bonfires, rotting food on landfills, forest fires caused by accident
or arson, or fumes from factories?
Photo: Air pollution pouring from a
smokestack (chimney)
What is pollution?
Photo: The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica caused by CFC pollution. Picture courtesy of NASA.
If you can smell it and you don't like it, it's probably pollution. But a bad smell may
be the least of your worries. An awful lot of pollution is highly toxic and harmful to
health. (Did you know, for example, that garden bonfire smoke contains over 350
times as much of the cancer-causing chemical benzpyrene as cigarette smoke?)
Over time, the chemicals in pollution can accumulate in the food chain or inside your
body, so even if you're exposed for only a short time the risk can be significant.
Maybe you think air pollution is nothing to worry about because the wind disperses it
quickly and blows it away. Sometimes that's true. But air pollution can dissolve in
rain and return to Earth as water pollution in another state, country, or even continent
from where it was produced. Nothing illustrated this more dramatically than the explosion at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant in the Ukraine in 1986, which blew a cloud of radioactive fallout over much of western
Europe.
How to tackle a project on pollution
This page is a collection of Web links designed to help you if you're doing a school or college project into
air pollution. The best way to approach your research is to consider air pollution in a very systematic way:



You could start by thinking about the different causes of air pollution and the different types of pollution
that each one produces.
Next, maybe you could look at the actual chemicals involved and the effects they have on human health.
(Incinerators that dispose of household trash, for example, are often considered controversial because if
they don't burn at high enough temperatures they can generate toxic chemicals called dioxins.)
Then you could move onto thinking about the different effects pollution has on the natural environment—
on plants, animals, and people.

Finally, you need to think about some solutions to the pollution problem. Is the best approach to use laws?
If so, how do you establish who's responsible for pollution when the effects may show up a long way from
the cause—maybe even a long time afterwards? And how do you tackle pollution at an international or
global level? What do you do about pollution produced in one country that can affect countries on the other
side of the world? Maybe you'll conclude that the best solution is to raise public awareness of the problem
so more people change their behavior. Or maybe you'll decide politicians need to regulate industry more—
but how will that happen in a world where businesses pull the strings of power? Are there any easy things
we can all do as individuals to reduce the problem of air pollution? For example, could we shun plastic
packaging to reduce the amount of trash that has to be burned? Could we switch to biodegradable plastics?
How much difference would it make if everyone recycled more?
You need to breathe to stay alive. But how clean is the air you breathe? If you breathe
dirty air, you are more likely to develop health problems and become ill. Plants and animals
need clean air too. A lot of the things that make our lives more comfortable such as cars,
electricity and heating, create bad gases which make the air dirty. The problem of air
pollution started with the burning of coal in homes and factories. Dirty air is called
'polluted air'.
'Air pollution' is what we say to describe all bad gases in the air that we breathe and that are
dangerous for us. But do not worry! Not all gases are bad!
WHY IS BREATHING SO IMPORTANT?
Take a few deep breaths. Can you feel your rib cage moving in and
out? This opens up your lungs so that air is sucked in.
In the lungs, a gas called oxygen passes from the air into your
blood. The oxygen is carried in the blood all round your body. You
need oxygen so that you can use the energy in the food you eat. It is the oxygen in the
air that helps keep you alive.
BACK TO THE PAST
500 years ago in Britain, the burning of coal was increasing in cities like London. Coal was
used in factories and also used to heat homes.
Coal, when burnt makes a lot of smoke, which makes the air very dirty.
About 200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. Factories
were built, and even more coal was burnt. Air pollution was becoming a really
big problem, especially when the weather was foggy. With foggy conditions
and light winds the smoke or air pollution covered the whole city, and would
not move.
Smoke and fog together create smog.
Smog was a big problem in the winter. Because of the cold weather, more coal
was burnt to warm houses and this made more smoke.
When smog was stuck over a city, it became really hard to breathe and see
clearly. In 1952, the Great London Smog occurred and more than 4000 people
died because of the smog!
New laws were created from this catastrophe
in 1956 and 1968, so that it would not
happen again. These laws are called the
'Clean Air Acts'.
These laws were made so that air would
become cleaner. The laws encouraged people to use less coal or use
cleaner coal in their homes and switch to other fuels such as gas.
Factories started using tall chimneys so that the smoke would go high up in the sky and no
longer cover cities, and new factories were built outside cities in the countryside. Smog
occurred less often and the air became cleaner.
WHAT IS TODAY'S AIR
POLLUTION LIKE?
Have you ever noticed that the air in a
from air in the country? One of the
from vehicles give off fumes, or gases,
city smells different
reasons is that exhausts
which can poison you.
Today, when we think of air pollution,
we should think of
transport,
especially cars. Today
there are about
23 million vehicles on
the road in
Britain, and 20 million
of them are cars! The fuel they use - petrol and diesel - releases a lot
of pollution in the air.
The car exhausts eject a lot of bad gases, which create air pollution.
These gases can be very dangerous for children. Although the fuels
are becoming cleaner, it will not be making that much difference
because there are more and more cars.
There is less pollution from coal, but today's modern world still creates air pollution. Today, air
pollution has not really fallen, because new bad gases are released in the air, and there are a lot
of them.
Transport is not the only reason why we have air pollution. Factories also release bad gases in
the air, even with the 'Clean Air Acts', it still causes a lot of air pollution. This air pollution that
they make is the main cause of acid rain.
WHAT ARE THESE BAD GASES?
Gases from vehicles:
 Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a gas that pollutes the air, and is mainly released
by cars and other vehicles. It has no colour or smell.
 Nitrogen oxides
Nitrogen oxides are emitted from vehicles, like cars and trucks. During rush hour periods,
a lot more is released in the air. Nitrogen oxides are also emitted from power stations.
These gases also make acid rain.
 Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons are produced when petrol is not fully burnt. They are one of
the causes of modern-day smog.
 Particulates
Particulates are very small particles, like soot, dust and fumes that
are released in the air. They are caused by vehicles, factories and
smoke from homes burning coal for heating.
Gases from factories:
 Nitrogen Oxides (see above)
 Sulphur dioxide
Sulphur dioxide has no colour. Most of it is released by power stations. It causes
acid rain when mixing with water in the air.
AIR POLLUTION INSIDE HOMES
We spend a large part of our lives at home and it does not often cross our
mind that the air we are breathing may be polluted. Pollution inside homes
is called 'indoor air pollution'.
Indoor air pollution is usually very low. But a lot of
things can increase it.
Fresh paint is a cause of indoor air pollution and so is
the burning of fuels such as coal and gas, in heaters,
stoves and ovens.
But one of the main causes of indoor air pollution is smoking. Smoking
cigarettes and tobacco can be very dangerous for health. The poison in the
smoke can cause heart problems, lung cancer and other lung diseases. If a
woman smokes when she is pregnant, her baby will probably be smaller
and become ill.
Cigarette smoke is dangerous for people smoking but also for those who do not! Breathing in
air, which contains other people's smoke, can cause you the same health problems, for example
lung cancer.
To reduce 'indoor air pollution', make sure the room is well ventilated
while painting. Try ventilating your home often, you can open windows
or use a fan. And if your parents or friends smoke, ask them to smoke
outside. And best of all NEVER START SMOKING!!!
Air Pollution
Have you ever heard someone say they are going outside "to get
a breath of fresh air"? Have you ever tried to imagine what life
would be like if the air were so dirty that people couldn't "get a breath of
fresh air"?
How does air become dirty? Your car produces emissions that go into
the air. The factories that made materials for your car produce more
emissions. All over the world, millions of cars and millions of factories
emit soot, ashes and chemicals into the air. Still more of these
substances come from garbage that is burned and chemicals that are
sprayed.
The result is air pollution. Sometimes you can smell pollution and sometimes, when the air looks hazy or
smokey, you can see it. But sometimes it's invisible.
Invisible or not, air pollution can cause a lot of damage. Even a little air pollution can make your eyes burn
and your head ache. It can tire you out, blur your vision, make you dizzy, and make it hard for you to
breathe. Air pollutants can also affect asthma and make it easier for you to catch a cold or the flu. Air
pollutants have also been linked to some cases of serious disease such as lung cancer and heart ailments. In
fact, some scientists believe that air pollution costs Americans billions of dollars a year in doctor bills and
unearned paychecks due to pollution-related illness.
People are not the only ones hurt by air pollution. Plants surrounded by polluted air may not grow. Fish and
animals may die. Statues and building materials may be discolored or corroded (eaten away).
Fighting Air Pollution
In the United States, people have been fighting air pollution for years and their efforts are working.
Industries must now control emissions from factories. New technology both in pollution prevention,
emission reductions, and improved manufacturing methods cut down emissions and removes pollutants
from emissions.
Cars now come equipped with something called a "catalytic converter" for the engine system. The converter
changes the harmful hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide that a car produces when it burns fuel into
harmless carbon dioxide and water. Since a car with a converter uses unleaded gas converters also reduce
the amount of lead in the air.
Some states and communities require emission control systems in cars to be inspected every year to make
sure they are working properly. This discourages drivers from removing catalytic converters from their cars,
or from pumping leaded gas into a car that should only use unleaded. In most states it is against the law to
switch from unleaded to leaded fuel, or to tamper with catalytic converters.
Thanks to these different kinds of emission controls, the air in the United States is better than it used to be.
Amounts of most major air pollutants have gone down. For example, between 1975 and 1984 amounts of
carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide in the air dropped an average of more than 30 percent. The amount of
lead dropped 70 percent. Today you can go outside to "get a breath of fresh air" in more and more places in
the U. S.
New problems
Air quality is improving, but more work needs to be done. Scientists now believe that some problems
are more serious than they first thought. For example, researchers are studying harmful effects of acid
rain. When some emissions from factories and cars mix with sunlight and vapor in the air, they change into
acidic compounds. These compounds can travel long distances in the air. Then they can fall to earth with
rain, snow or dust. When they fall on lakes, they can turn the water acidic, like vinegar. In some lakes, all
the fish died because the water became so acidic.
Another problem scientists are learning more about is indoor air pollution. The air inside your house may be
more polluted than the air around a factory! Indoor air pollution can come from oven fumes, hair spray,
cigarette smoke, insect sprays, fingernail polish, carpet cleaners and other ordinary household products.
Even the dirt and rocks around a house can cause pollution if they contain radon. Radon is a radioactive gas
that occurs naturally in some soil. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless, but some scientists believe it causes
lung cancer.
Sometimes the simplest cure for indoor air pollution is just to open a few windows. More complicated
methods may involve installing exhaust fans or plugging up holes in a house foundation so radon cannot
seep through.
Air Pollution
What is air pollution?
Air pollution is made up of many kinds of gases, droplets and particles that reduce the quality of the air. Air
can be polluted in both the city and the country.
In the city, cars, buses and airplanes, as well as industry and construction may cause air pollution. In the
country, dust from tractors plowing fields, trucks and cars driving on dirt or gravel roads, rock quarries and smoke
from wood and crop fires may cause air pollution.
Ground-level ozone is the major part of air pollution in most cities. Ground-level ozone is created when engine
and fuel gases already released into the air interact when sunlight hits them. Ozone levels increase in cities when the
air is still, the sun is bright and the temperature is warm. Ground-level ozone should not be confused with the "good"
ozone that is miles up in the atmosphere and that protects us from the sun's harmful radiation.
What symptoms does air pollution cause?
Air pollution can irritate the eyes, throat and lungs. Burning eyes, cough and chest tightness are common with
exposure to high levels of air pollution. Different people can react very differently to air pollution. Some people may
notice chest tightness or cough, while others may not notice any effects.
Is air pollution bad for my health?
Fortunately for most healthy people, the symptoms of air pollution exposure usually go away as soon as the
air quality improves. However, certain groups of people are more sensitive to the effects of air pollution than others.
Children probably feel the effects of lower levels of pollution than adults. They also experience more illness,
such as bronchitis and earaches, in areas of high pollution than in areas with cleaner air.
People with heart or lung disease also react more severely to polluted air. During times of heavy pollution,
their condition may worsen to the point that they must limit their activities or even seek additional medical care. In the
past, a number of deaths have been associated with severely polluted conditions. Pollution this bad is rare today in
the United States. The health effects of long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution are currently being studied.
Is there a group that keeps track of air pollution?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) checks and reports on air quality in the United States. The EPA,
in cooperation with local air-quality boards, measures the level of pollution in the air over many large cities and a
number of rural areas. Because of the Agency's efforts, the nation's air quality has greatly improved over the last 20
years.
Newspapers, television and radio stations often give air-quality reports in areas where pollution is a problem.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a scale of air quality that ranges from 0 to 500 and is used in many weather reports. An
AQI score of over 100 indicates unhealthy air conditions.
What can I do to protect my family and myself?
Check the predicted AQI in your area. Be careful if the AQI is greater than 100. Also be careful if there are highrisk weather conditions, such as a hot, sunny day, and if you begin to develop symptoms like chest tightness, burning
eyes or a cough.
You can protect yourself and your family from the effects of air pollution by doing the following:
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Stay indoors as much as you can during days when pollution levels are high. Many pollutants have lower
levels indoors than outdoors.
If you must go outside, limit outside activity to the early morning hours or wait until after sunset. This is
important in high ozone conditions (such as in many large cities) because sunshine increases ozone levels.
Don't exercise or exert yourself outdoors when air-quality reports indicate unhealthy conditions. The faster
you breathe, the more pollution you take into your lungs.
These steps will generally prevent symptoms in healthy adults and children. However, if you live or work close to a
known pollution source, or if you have a chronic heart or lung problem, talk with your doctor about other ways to
protect yourself from air pollution.
The Challenge
Breathing smog and soot are dangerous to health
Smog settles on the Los Angeles skyline. More than half of all
Americans live in areas that don't meet clean-air standards.
Nearly four decades after the passage of the Clean Air Act, more
than half of all Americans still live in areas that don't meet cleanair standards.
Dirty air increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and
respiratory problems. While everyone suffers some harm, the 22
million Americans with asthma are particularly vulnerable.
The two primary sources of air pollution are tailpipes and
smokestacks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets
different standards for various pollutants. In the U. S., ozone
(smog) and fine particles (sometimes called soot) pose the biggest health threats. Large power plants, cars
and trucks are major sources of the pollutants that form ozone and fine particles.
Air is cleaner overall, but 'hot spots' pose health threat
In recent years, EPA has placed stricter pollution controls on power plants, cars and trucks. The good news
is that we are seeing successful results from these measures in many places. (Read a Q&A with Dr. John
Balbus, our chief health scientist on air quality, red alert days and public health.)
The bad news is that recent studies show that smog and fine particle air pollution harms our health at lower
levels than we used to think. So living downwind of a large power plant or near a major roadway can lead to
higher exposures and greater health risks, and contribute to heart and lung problems.
Ozone (smog)
Ozone, the main component of smog, forms in the lower atmosphere when nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) interact in the presence of sunlight, heat and relatively stagnant
air.
Exposure to ozone can have serious effects on respiratory health. Inflammation and irritation of the
respiratory tract can cause shortness of breath, throat irritation, chest pains, coughing and asthma
attacks. These consequences are more severe if exposure occurs during physical activity.
Particulate pollution (soot)
Particulate pollution is a mixture of soot, smoke and tiny particles formed in the atmosphere from sulfur
dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides NOx) and ammonia (NH3). Sooty particles are most dangerous when very
small as they are easily inhaled and reach deep into the lungs where they can trigger an inflammatory
response.
Particulate pollution is associated with heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, reduced lung
function and bronchitis. These impacts result in tens of thousands of premature deaths from heart and lung
disease annually, as well as hospital admissions, emergency room visits, absences from school or work, and
restricted activities related to asthma attacks.
A Study Links Trucks’ Exhaust to Bronx Schoolchildren’s Asthma
Derrick Reliford, now 14, in his Bronx home this month. In
2002, he took part in an asthma study that involved
schoolchildren in the South Bronx.
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
Published: October 29, 2006 NY Times
In New York City, air pollution levels have typically been
monitored by inanimate objects, at more than a dozen locations around town. But in the South
Bronx, from 2002 to 2005, air pollution monitors went mobile. They went to the playground, to
the gritty sidewalks, even to the movies.
In the asthma study, researchers gave students from four schools backpacks outfitted with air pollution gauges.
A group of schoolchildren carried the monitors everywhere they went. The
instruments, attached to the backpacks of children with asthma, allowed
researchers at New York University to measure the pollution the children
were exposed to, morning to night.
The South Bronx is home to miles of expressways, more than a dozen wastetransfer stations, a sewage-treatment plant and truck traffic from some of the
busiest wholesale produce, meat and fish markets in the world.
It is also home to some of the highest asthma hospitalization rates for children
in the city.
The N.Y.U. study found that the students were exposed to high levels of air pollutants in their
neighborhoods and that children in the South Bronx were twice as likely to attend a school near a
highway as were children in other parts of the city.
The findings paint a bleak picture of the air quality in one of the poorest sections of the city and
have focused renewed attention from community groups and elected officials on curbing pollution
from truck exhaust.
“The levels did surprise me,” said José E. Serrano, the Bronx representative whose district
includes the South Bronx. “They are really telling us that this is a very serious problem.”
Mr. Serrano, who is a Democrat and who helped secure money for the study, and the researchers
held a news conference this month about the findings.
Ten children from each of four public schools in the South Bronx — P.S. 154, M.S. 302, M.S. 201
and Community School 152 — took part in the study. They were given wheeled black and dark blue
backpacks outfitted with a battery-powered pump and an air filter, along with other instruments.
“You rolled it, so it wasn’t really that heavy,” said Derrick Reliford, one of the students.
The children, who were volunteers ages 10 to 12, each took part in the study for a month. They
reported to researchers stationed at the schools twice a day and kept diaries on their asthma
symptoms and daily activities. Their lung function was tested, and the filters from their backpacks
were regularly changed and analyzed. A van parked near the schools served as an air-monitoring
lab.
Derrick, 14, took part in the study in 2002, when he was a student at Public School 154 on East
135th Street. The school is across the street from the Major Deegan Expressway.
Airborne particles like dust, soot and smoke that are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter are
small enough to lodge themselves deep in the lungs. Studies have linked pollution of this sort to
respiratory problems, decreased lung function, nonfatal heart attacks and aggravated asthma,
according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
E.P.A. officials said these fine particles, a significant portion of which are produced by diesel
engine emissions, lead to 15,000 premature deaths a year nationwide.
In the South Bronx study, average daily exposure to air pollution for a group of 10 children
exceeded the E.P.A.’s new standard on many days.
Bronx County is one of 10 counties in the state that exceed current federal air quality standards for
fine-particle pollution. “We know that this is an area that has air quality that isn’t satisfactory,” he
said.
Children in the South Bronx are twice as likely as others in the city to attend school near a
highway.
Four Bronx organizations that supported the study — including the
Point, a Hunts Point community group — have asked lawyers to look
into their legal options to get the E.P.A. and the state to improve air
quality in the South Bronx.
“Hopefully, this will ring the alarm bells a little louder,” said Kellie N.
Terry-Sepulveda, executive managing director of the Point.
New York State must submit a plan to the E.P.A. by April 2008
detailing how it will bring its fine-particle pollution levels into
compliance. States that fail to submit or implement their plans risk
losing federal highway money. All states must bring their levels of fineparticle pollution into compliance by 2010, though they can ask for an exemption seeking more
time, E.P.A. officials said.
Asthma in Children from the Bronx may have increased risk from
Diesel Truck Soot
Submitted by Nicole Wilson on October 16, 2006 - 3:54pm.
A five year study of school-aged children that lived in the South Bronx found increasing rates of
asthma symptoms. Researchers from the New York University’s School of Medicine and Robert F.
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service measured the ground pollution levels for carbon levels and
found that students in the South Bronx had higher asthma rates and more air concentration of air
pollution.
Hospital admissions at the South Bronx’s Hunts Point district were at a rate
percent for elementary school aged children having asthma incidences. The
major highways surrounding the area including Interstates 95, 87, 278 and
and at Hunts Point Market alone, there are around 12,000 trucks coming in
of 21 percent to 23
South Bronx has several
895. Trucking is heavy,
and out on a daily basis.
Asthma symptoms such as wheezing, was double in elementary school students on high traffic days.
The researchers had students collect samples of air samples for carbon concentrations on their way to
school. There were a total of ten students that the researchers followed for a month.
"We went in and actually measured personal exposures to traffic pollution, which had not been done
before. Our results confirm that diesel soot particles in air pollution are causing exacerbations of
asthma in children," says George Thurston, Sc.D., Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine at
NYU School of Medicine, one of the study's principal researchers.
Other research has associated elemental carbon pollution as a trigger for asthma. The carbon comes
from black soot which is found in diesel exhaust.
"If you live in the South Bronx, your child is twice as likely to attend a school near a highway as other
children in the city," according to Rae Zimmerman, professor of planning and public administration at
the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, a principal researcher for the study.
Public Policy
The American Lung Association in New York's 2008-09 Public Policy Agenda aims to:
Increase state funding for comprehensive tobacco control programs;
Increase the state tobacco excise tax;
Ban the sale of candy and fruit flavored cigarettes—the latest in a long line of insidious tobacco industry practices
to get kids to smoke;
Enact a comprehensive clean up plan to reduce diesel exhaust particles;
Establish standards for cleaner heating fuel oil; and,
Extend and expand the funding for clean energy and energy efficiency programs.
Current Legislation
Below are bills introduced to date in the New York State Legislature and the New York City Council across New
York which impact lung health and air quality. Our policy staff closely monitor the introduction of legislation and
updates this list throughout the year.
Smokefree Playgrounds
A. No Same As - S.3242
Assembly -|
Senate - Reported and committed to Codes on 5/11/10
Idle-Free School Zones
A. 1578 - S. No Same As
Assembly - Referred to Transportation Committee on 1/7/2009
Senate Prohibiting Smoking at Public Beaches and Parks
A. 1837 - S. No Same As
Assembly - Referred to Health Committee on 1/6/2010
Senate Three Minute Idling
A. 2623 - S. 3515
Assembly - Referred to Transportation Committee on 1/21/2009
Senate - Referred to Transportation Committee on 1/6/2010
Prohibits Idling by Heavy Duty Vehicles
A.11028 - S.5287-c
Assembly - Referred to Environmental Conservation on 5/10/2010
Senate - Reported and Committed to Finance on 5/11/10
Prohibits Smoking in Private Vehicles when there are passengers under age 16
A. 6714 - S.3191
Assembly - Referred to Health Committee on 1/6/10
Senate - Referred to Health Committee on 1/6/10
New York City Asthma-Free Housing Act
Intro 750
Clean heating oil in New York City
Intro 594