DIESEL EXHAUST, SCHOOL BUSES AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH Background and epidemiology: Most North American school buses and transport trucks are powered by diesel fuelled engines. Diesel has become the fuel of choice because it is considered more economical. However, as evidence grows about the connection between diesel exhaust, air pollution and ill health, so does public […]
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School Buses May Foul Air for Many Years
October 11, 2005 – New York City’s fleet of 6,200 yellow school buses is the largest in the country by far. And despite recent efforts to clean up the most polluting buses in the fleet, it may still be one of the dirtiest.
In a city with asthma rates so high that in some neighborhoods — Harlem, for example — one in four children has the disease, officials have found that efforts to reduce harmful emissions from school buses are hindered by the age of the fleet and by the fact that the buses are owned not by the city, but by outside companies.
Continue readingExperts See Worrisome Link Between Coronavirus, Pollution
EXPERTS SEE WORRISOME LINK BETWEEN CORONAVIRUS, POLLUTION April 12, 2020 – Advocates and Democratic lawmakers are raising concerns over new research that suggests environmental conditions could exacerbate the effects of the coronavirus on low-income and minority communities. A recent Harvard study found that people who live in areas with more exposure to air pollution are […]
Continue readingSTUDY FINDS ASTHMA IN 25% OF CHILDREN IN CENTRAL HARLEM
STUDY FINDS ASTHMA IN 25% OF CHILDREN IN CENTRAL HARLEM New York – April 19, 2003 – A study has found that one of every four children in central Harlem has asthma, which is double the rate researchers expected to find and, experts say, is one of the highest rates ever documented for an American […]
Continue readingNYC to Use Fleet Vehicles as Mobile Air Quality Test Stations in the Bronx
New technology could help City better understand and address air quality concerns NEW YORK – January 21, 2020 – Mayor Bill de Blasio, Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Lisette Camilo, and the City of New York’s Chief Technology Officer John Paul Farmer (CTO) today announced the launch of CityScanner, a pilot program that […]
Continue readingIn Wake of Fatal Incidents, Fines for Idling Cars Could Go Up
MARCH 25, 2009 – Go nuts, punctuation sticklers. This sign, which either admonishes drivers for leaving their engines idling or encourages loafing youths to hold their breath, was recently spotted outside P.S. 277 in Brooklyn. Besides contributing to global warming, CO2 emissions from vehicles are a major factor in NYC’s high childhood asthma rates; the […]
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