Improving air quality in New York City through cleaner heating fuels: novel methods for fine scale evaluations of public health impacts

Background: Fine particulate matter in air has been associated with many adverse health outcomes. Beginning in 2008, New York City (NYC) began a process of air quality monitoring and pollution-attributable health analysis to... [ view full abstract ]

Background: Fine particulate matter in air has been associated with many adverse health outcomes. Beginning in 2008, New York City (NYC) began a process of air quality monitoring and pollution-attributable health analysis to provide data instrumental in developing local air quality interventions.

Methods: First, we used a library of neighborhood mortality and hospital admission data, linked to local air pollution data, to estimate the overall impact of air pollution exposure on mortality and morbidity in NYC. Second we used data from a unique street level neighborhood air quality monitoring network, the NYC Community Air Survey (NYCCAS), with local geodatabases to model and map air quality to identify hot spots and important sources of pollutant spatial variability. Third, we developed a deterministic modeling framework that uses local data on pollutant emissions and health outcomes with high spatial resolution air quality and health impact modeling to quantify the benefits of emissions reduction strategies.

Results: NYCCAS data demonstrated higher concentrations of several air pollutants in NYC neighborhoods with the greatest density of residual oil-burning boilers. Findings from these studies have been shared in public reports and testimony, spurring legislation, regulation and voluntary initiatives to shift to cleaner heating fuels. We estimated that when fully implemented, clean heat measures will prevent almost 300 premature deaths and over 700 hospitalizations and emergency department visits due to fine particulate matter exposures annually, with the majority of the benefits expected to occur in low income neighborhoods. City-wide air quality monitoring demonstrated a 69% decline in ambient sulfur dioxide levels after implementation of clean heat regulations.

Conclusions: Combining local air quality surveillance and health benefits modeling can provide valuable information for prioritizing, evaluating, and supporting local urban air quality interventions. These methods are applicable in other cities for assessing impacts of local air pollution sources.