Air Pollution in New York City Jack Lebeau MD E Global Solutions – Anthony Straggi January 2005

Air Pollution in New York State is concentrated in the area of NYC

CARCINOGENS LISTED IN NRDC'S ANALYSIS Air Toxics (Carcinogens) EPA Benchmark Concentrations(µg/m3) Acetaldehyde0.45Benzene0.12 Acrylamide Beryllium Acrylonitrile0.015Ethylene dichloride0.038 Arsenic Hydrazine Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate0.25Formaldehyde ,3-Butadiene Lead0.013 Cadmium Methyl chloride0.56 Carbon tetrachloride0.067 Methylene chloride2.1 Chloroform0.043Nickel Chromium Propylene dichloride ,3-Dichloropropene0.027Quinoline Ethyl acrylate0.0731,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane0.017 Ethylene dibromide ,1,2-Trichloroethane0.063 Ethylene oxide Vinyl chloride0.012 Tetrachloroethylene1.7 Vinylidene chloride0.02 Trichloroethylene0.59

HIGHEST RISK COUNTIES IN THE STATE COUNTYNew YorkKingsBronxQueensRichmondWestchester RISK

RISK FACTOR AND SOURCE OF TOXIC AIR POLLUTANTS OF CONCERN IN NEW YORK COUNTY, NY Air ToxicRiskSourcePercentage 1,3 Butadiene176Mobile70% Formaldehyde64Mobile Area 55% 42% Benzene53Mobile70% Chromium43Area Mobile 47% 31% Nickel20Area68% Carbon Tetrachloride13Area100% Mobile Sources: Cars, trucks, buses, tractors, etc. Point Sources: Large factories and other major industrial sources Area Sources: Small factories, dry cleaners, gas stations, etc.

KEY *The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed benchmarks for "safe" concentrations of toxics in air, levels at which one person in one million is at risk of developing cancer. Key represents the risk factor for a combination of 31 toxics as a multiple of EPA's safe level (e.g. darkest shade indicates levels more than 400 times EPA's safe concentrations). See the chart on the next slide for a list of the 31 toxics.

Air Pollution in NYC Diesel engines* Gasoline Engines New Jersey Industry Port of New York Airports Helicopters Smoking Dry cleaning Chemical industries * These include stationary engines like generators and pumps, and off-road as well as on-road engines.

Everyone in the NY metropolitan area breathes air that fails to meet EPA health standards, and many New Yorkers suffer serious health impacts from breathing that dirty air. One million people in New York City, including 300,000 children, have been diagnosed with asthma. Air pollution from mobile sources, like construction equipment, contributes to over 90% of the air cancer risk in New York County. Nearly 1 in 4 children in east Harlem suffer from asthma; the worst rate in the country. The costs of asthma hospitalization in New York City totaled more than $242 million in 2000.

Asthma Hospitalization rates by ZIP Code in NYC for Children Aged 0-14 in the year 2000

Perera, F.P. et al. Biomarkers in maternal and newborn blood indicate heightened fetal susceptibility to procarcinogenic DNA damage. Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 112, pp (July 2004). In a study of newborns and their mothers in New York City, scientists found that developing babies had accumulated a relatively high number of genetic mutations, and they linked the mutations to emissions from vehicles and other sources of urban pollution.

In 1999, nonroad diesel engines, like construction equipment, in the New York metropolitan area emitted more tons of particulate matter than nonroad vehicles than in any other major U.S. city.  Using clean fuel, ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (15 ppm), and tailpipe retrofits can cut pollution from construction vehicles at City construction sites up to 90%.  The technology needed to cut pollution from construction vehicles is increasingly easy to use and, as the market grows, will become even more cost-effective than it already is today.  Retrofit costs are very low - a few thousand dollars - compared to the acquisition cost of a piece of construction machinery, which can easily be in the six digits.

Local Law 77 Local Law 77 is an effective plan to improve air quality in New York City and will have many favorable effects on asthma, heart attack, stroke, sudden death, cancer in children and adults. It will prevent lost work time and the economic damage that results. Costs from air pollution related illness and hospitalization will be cut dramatically.

Similarly, Staten Islanders are exposed to air pollutants emitted from nearby Newark Airport and many northeastern New Jersey industries. Helicopters in New York City are also a persistent source of air pollution, as emissions from helicopters are essentially unregulated. League of Conservation Voters Think about other sources of air pollution!

A comprehensive plan to clean the air is needed. It must look at the Port of New York, roads, airports, helicopters and even dry cleaners and other users of chemical toxins. Real courage and conviction has curtailed smoking in public places in NYC. The City’s air can be cleaned. With clear thinking and planning it will be affordable and save far more than it will cost. A Future We Can Make Real