“I don’t think there is a quick fix,” said Dr. Jack Mann, a pulmonologist based in Bayside. “You can’t hide from the air. That’s the truth. We’re going to have more respiratory diseases because of the pollution.”
Mann recommended that those who suffer from respiratory problems stay inside on days where the air quality is considered dangerous for them — and urged Queens residents to stop smoking.
Particle pollution is a mix of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. The particles, which are microscopic in nature, can get into the lungs and cause asthma and heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer.
“Cleaner air equals longer life, and the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2009 report provides troubling proof of the unhealthy air that residents across New York State are breathing,” said Deborah Carioto, president of the American Lung Association in New York. “Now more than ever it is apparent that New Yorkers are breathing in dangerously high levels of both particulate matter and ozone.”
Queens’ failing grade was determined by looking at the number of days the air quality monitor registered designations of orange, for air deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups; red, denoting unhealthy air; and purple, indicating very unhealthy air.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office reiterated the administration’s plans for a greener New York in response to the report, saying “PlaNYC is the city’s long-term vision for a greener, greater New York. It has set the goal of reducing the city’s carbon emissions 30 percent by the year 2030, which will improve air quality in Queens. On Earth Day we introduced a plan to green New York City’s buildings, which when enacted will reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 5 percent, which will certainly improve air quality in Queens.”
In a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall urged the government to include Queens in a study of air quality in the nation’s schools. Marshall cited the borough’s airports, power plants and highways, stating that “Queens would seem to be a textbook case, ripe for this kind of air quality study, of a large urban area containing both significant industrial facilities and large residential populations.”
Dan Hendrick, spokesman for the New York League of Conservation Voters, called the report troublesome and worrying. The NYLCV, along with the Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy and other advocacy groups, is working to get the new Clean Air, Clean Water, and Green Jobs Bond Act passed. The $5 billion state proposal will be on the ballot in November if approved by the Legislature.
One major proponent is state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who said the measure would have a positive impact on both the environment and the economy.
If backed by voters, the bond act will provide new funding to improve transit and water infrastructure, while at the same time restoring communities.
Hendrick cited car traffic and power plants as the two areas needing the most improvement.
“Clearly, we need to do a lot more to urge people to take mass transit,” he said. “That means actually providing decent mass transit that’s reliable, clean, safe and convenient. We need to move forward a lot on cleaner sources of energy. We need to go away from fossil fuel burning energy and towards solar and wind, which are emission free. That’s really the direction we need to go in.”
For some living in Queens, the report’s findings come as a surprise. Dawn Amenn of Astoria, a 41-year old mother of three and lifelong Queens resident, was caught off guard by the results.
“I didn’t think it was the greatest air quality, but an F? It surprises me,” Amenn said. “It concerns me considering the kids have a bunch of allergies, to think they are breathing in toxins on top of it — I’m concerned. You wonder how many times you bring the kids to the doctor for ear infections and colds, how much you can attribute it to the air they are breathing in?”
She added, “You can’t walk around wearing masks. You can’t stop going outside. All you can do is try to make the Earth a better place, and cut down on any pollution you contribute to. The amount of cars in the city, how can it not be a major factor?”
Amenn said she would have to look into the Clean Air, Clean Water and Green Jobs Bond Act proposal before deciding whether to vote for it.
|
|
