Air Quality Improvements Are Saving Lives in New York City:
  • Full citation and abstract?
Darell, Andy. September 26, 2013. Air quality improvements are saving lives in New York City. EDF Voices: People on the Planet. https://www.edf.org/blog/2013/11/14/air-quality-improvements-are-saving-lives-new-york-city.

  • Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
Andrew H. Darrell is the Chief of Strategy, US Climate and Energy and New York Regional Director. He does most of his work with smart grid, energy efficiency, air quality, environmental justice, and NYC clean heat. He is also a member of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s PlaNYC Sustainability Advisory Board, a plan that has been created in the hopes of giving NYC a sustainable future. Darrell also works on the New York Commission, where he gives suggestions for traffic-cutting measures; he was appointed to this position in 2007.


  • What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The main findings are that there has been a significant improvement in New York City’s air quality over the last five years (as of 2013).


  • Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
This argument is supported by the data collected by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH), which has been collecting street level air quality for the last five winters through the NYC Community Air Survey. The data shows that wintertime sulfur pollution decreased by 69%, nickel pollution by 35%, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution by 23%. NYC DOHMH made an estimate that these air quality improvements will save 780 lives a year and prevent 1,600 emergency room visits every year.


  • What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
This shows how effective it can be when government and the private sector work together towards a common goal.”

“Buildings in every affected neighborhood have become part of the solution”

“These accomplishments show that the Clean Heat model works, and the EDF Clean Energyinitiative is dedicated to applying this success elsewhere in the country and around the world.”

  • What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
This argument is supported by the data collected by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH), which has been collecting street level air quality for the last five winters through the NYC Community Air Survey

  • How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?

  • Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
This article was published in EDF Voices: Energy and EDF Voices: Air Quality.


  • Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
This article makes it clear that the EDF is highly in favor of the work that has been done by Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, especially the NYC Clean Heat initiative.


  • What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?

I followed up on how the level of sulfur was reduced, how a person/company can actually convert to clean heat, and lastly, what incentives buildings have when switching to clean heat.





Annotation 2:
Domestic airborne black carbon and exhaled nitric oxide in children in NYC

  • Full citation and abstract?
J. Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2012 May-Jun; 22(3): 258-266.
Abstract:

Differential exposure to combustion by-products and allergens may partially explain the marked disparity in asthma prevalence (3%–18%) among New York City neighborhoods. Subclinical changes in airway inflammation can be measured by fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). FeNO could be used to test independent effects of these environmental exposures on airway inflammation. Seven and eight year-old children from neighborhoods with lower (range 3–9%, n=119) and higher (range 11–18%, n=121) asthma prevalence participated in an asthma case-control study. During home visits, FeNO was measured, and samples of bed dust (allergens) and air (black carbon) were collected. Neighborhood built-environment characteristics were assessed for the 500m surrounding participants’ homes. Airborne black carbon concentrations in homes correlated with neighborhood asthma prevalence (P<0.001) and neighborhood densities of truck routes (P<0.001) and buildings burning residual oil (P<0.001). FeNO concentrations were higher among asthmatics with compared to asthmatics without frequent wheeze (≥4 times/year) (P=0.002). FeNO concentrations correlated with domestic black carbon among children without seroatopy (P=0.012) and with dust mite allergen among children with seroatopy (P=0.020). The association between airborne black carbon in homes and both neighborhood asthma prevalence and FeNO suggest that further public health interventions on truck emissions standards and residual oil use are warranted.

  • Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
Alexandra G. Cornell, MD:
-Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY
Steven N. Chilrud, PhD:
-Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

-Robert B. Mellins, MD:
-Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY

Luis M. Acosta, MD:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Rachel L. Miller, MD:
-Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY

James W. Quinn, MA:
-Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University, New York, NY

Beizhan Yan, PhD:
-Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY

Adnan Divjan:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Omar E. Olmedo, BS:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Sara Lopez-Pintado, PhD:
-Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Patrick L. Kinney, ScD:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Frederica P. Perera, DrPH:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Judith S. Jacobson, DrPH:
-Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Inge F. Goldstein, DrPH:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Andrew G. Rundle, DrPH:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

Matthew S. Perzanowski, PhD:
-Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
-Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY

  • What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The main findings were that the airborne black carbon concentrations in homes correlated with the high rate of neighborhood asthma, the densities of truck routes in the neighborhoods, and the buildings burning residual oil. The FeNO concentrations correlated with domestic black carbon among children without seroatopy.
The study also highlighted the fact that there is an unequal geographic distribution of environmental exposures that impact airway inflammation and asthma morbidity in 7-8 year old children in NYC. The study also shows that the unequal distribution of combustion byproduct sources in a city can lead to differences in exposure, even in communities of similar socioeconomic status.


  • Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
-BC correlated significantly with neighborhood asthma prevalence, density of the buildings burning residual oil, and the density of the truck routes.
-Among asthmatic children, FeNO and FEV1/FVC were associated with frequent wheeze, and in asthmatic children with normal lung function, FeNO was associated with probability of frequent wheeze.
-In sensitivity analyses, local neighborhood income was neither associated with FeNO nor altered the association between BC and Der f 1 and FeNO.

  • What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
NYC has failed to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM2.5 and received a failing grade for short-term high particle pollution days from the American Lung Association.”

"These differences in exposure could be one aspect leading to differences in asthma prevalence and morbidity, as manifested by increased symptoms and biomarkers reflecting airway inflammation.”

“Differential exposure to combustion by-products and allergens may partially explain the marked disparity in asthma prevalence (3%–18%) among New York City neighborhoods.”

  • What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
-The asthma case definition was defined by a questionaaire, including the modules for wheeze form the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC).
-Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was collected by sampling air in the child’s home at 1.5L/min for 7 days after the home visit during which FeNO was collected.
-The allergens were measured in the dust samples from the child’s bed.
-A collection devise that included a scrubber to remove the ambient NO from the air and a noisemaker to verify proper inhalation were used to collect FeNO.
-Pulmonary function tests were conducted in the homes; a portable spirometer was used for these tests.
-An ImmunoCAP was used to measure the Serum IgE antibodies against German cockroach, mouse urine, D. farinea, cat dander, dog dander, common ragweed, and mixed tree and grass pollen.
-The Children’s home addresses were geocoded and linked to the GIS database.


  • How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
The health disparities are addressed as serious and prevalent issues in the article, ones that require attention.


  • Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
Examination of Spatial Polygamy among Young Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in New York City: The P18 Cohort Study, by Dustin T. Duncan, Farzana Kapadia, Perry N. Halkitis.

-Highway proximity and black carbon from cookstoves as a risk factor for higher blood pressure in rural China, by Jill Baumgartner, Yuanxun Zhang, James J. Schauer, Wei Huang, Yuqin Wang, Majid Ezzati

-Association of recent exposure to ambient metals on fractional exhaled nitric oxide in 9-11 year old inner-city children, by Maria José Rosa, Matthew S. Perzanowski, Adnan Divjan, Steven N Chillrud, Lori Hoepner, Hanjie Zhang, Robert Ridder, Frederica P. Perera, Rachel L. Miller.

-Time Trends of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure in New York City from 2001 to 2012: Assessed by Repeat Air and Urine Samples, by Kyung Hwa Jung, Bian Liu, Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, Beizhan Yan, David Camann, Andreas Sjodin, Zheng Li, Frederica Perera, Patrick Kinney, Steven Chillrud, Rachel L. Miller.

-Epigenetic Regulation: The Interface Between Prenatal and Early-Life Exposure and Asthma Susceptibility, by Mariangels de Planell-Saguer, Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, Rachel L. Miller

-Socioeconomic and Outdoor Meteorological Determinants of Indoor Temperature and Humidity in New York City Dwellings, by JD Tamerius, MS Perzanowski, LM Acosta, JS Jacobson, IF Goldstein, JW Quinn, AG Rundle, J Shaman

-Early-life cockroach allergen and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposures predict cockroach sensitization among inner-city children, by Matthew S. Perzanowski, Ginger L. Chew, Adnan Divjan, Kyung Hwa Jung, Robert Ridder, Deliang Tang, Diurka Diaz, Inge F. Goldstein, Patrick L. Kinney, Andrew G. Rundle, David E. Camann, Frederica P. Perera, Rachel L. Miller.

-Exercise-Induced Wheeze, Urgent Medical Visits, and Neighborhood Asthma Prevalence, by Timothy R. Mainardi, Robert B. Mellins, Rachel L. Miller, Luis M. Acosta, Alexandra Cornell, Lori Hoepner, James W. Quinn, Beizhan Yan, Steven N. Chillrud, Omar E. Olmedo, Frederica P. Perera, Inge F. Goldstein, Andrew G. Rundle, Judith S. Jacobson, Matthew S. Perzanowski

-Children’s Urinary Phthalate Metabolites and Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide in an Urban Cohort, by Allan C. Just, Robin M. Whyatt, Rachel L. Miller, Andrew G. Rundle, Qixuan Chen, Antonia M. Calafat, Adnan Divjan, Maria J. Rosa, Hanjie Zhang, Frederica P. Perera, Inge F. Goldstein, Matthew S. Perzanowski

  • Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?

  • What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
I followed up on where airborne carbon in homes comes from, the use of FeNO as a biomarker, and the Serum IgE measurement.