Dataset Information

Soot and the city: Evaluating the impacts of Clean Heat policies on indoor/outdoor air quality in New York City apartments.

ABSTRACT: New York City has had a long history of implementing local policies to reduce air pollution. Enacted as a part of PlaNYC, the Clean Heat policies aim to lower wintertime ambient air pollution by phasing out dirty No. 6 heating fuel oil and transitioning to comparatively cleaner No. 4, No. 2, or natural gas. This study evaluates the impacts of policies on ambient air pollution and, given that people spend the majority of their time inside, importantly, indoor air pollution. Using a natural experiment, we evaluate the effects of the policies by measuring average two-week levels of indoor and outdoor black carbon (BC) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 48 upper Manhattan apartments in successive winter heating seasons before and after mandated fuel transition. We failed to observe systematic improvements in indoor BC and PM2.5 concentrations in follow-up. However, outdoor levels of PM2.5 did improve, with statistical differences observed among buildings converting to the cleanest fuels. Non-statistical improvements were observed for outdoor BC. However, when accounting for meteorological differences, apartment characteristics, and behavioral patterns that may have influenced air pollution measurements, these differences were not significant. The study results have important policy and equity implications considering the differential improvements in air quality by conversion to No. 4 oil as compared to the cleaner No. 2 oil and natural gas.

SUBMITTER: Gould CF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6023219 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Soot and the city: Evaluating the impacts of Clean Heat policies on indoor/outdoor air quality in New York City apartments.

Gould Carlos F CF Chillrud Steven N SN Phillips Douglas D Perzanowski Matthew S MS Hernández Diana D

PloS one 20180628 6

New York City has had a long history of implementing local policies to reduce air pollution. Enacted as a part of PlaNYC, the Clean Heat policies aim to lower wintertime ambient air pollution by phasing out dirty No. 6 heating fuel oil and transitioning to comparatively cleaner No. 4, No. 2, or natural gas. This study evaluates the impacts of policies on ambient air pollution and, given that people spend the majority of their time inside, importantly, indoor air pollution. Using a natural experi ...[more]

PMID: 29953529

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Project description:BackgroundAir pollution is both a sensory blight and a threat to human health. Inhaled environmental pollutants can be naturally occurring or human-made, and include traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), ozone, particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds, among other substances, including those from secondhand smoking. Studies of air pollution on reproductive and endocrine systems have reported associations of TRAP, secondhand smoke (SHS), organic solvents and biomass fueled-cooking with adverse birth outcomes. While some evidence suggests that air pollution contributes to infertility, the extant literature is mixed, and varying effects of pollutants have been reported.Objective and rationaleAlthough some reviews have studied the association between common outdoor air pollutants and time to pregnancy (TTP), there are no comprehensive reviews that also include exposure to indoor inhaled pollutants, such as airborne occupational toxicants and SHS. The current systematic review summarizes the strength of evidence for associations of outdoor air pollution, SHS and indoor inhaled air pollution with couple fecundability and identifies gaps and limitations in the literature to inform policy decisions and future research.Search methodsWe performed an electronic search of six databases for original research articles in English published since 1990 on TTP or fecundability and a number of chemicals in the context of air pollution, inhalation and aerosolization. Standardized forms for screening, data extraction and study quality were developed using DistillerSR software and completed in duplicate. We used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess risk of bias and devised additional quality metrics based on specific methodological features of both air pollution and fecundability studies.OutcomesThe search returned 5200 articles, 4994 of which were excluded at the level of title and abstract screening. After full-text screening, 35 papers remained for data extraction and synthesis. An additional 3 papers were identified independently that fit criteria, and 5 papers involving multiple routes of exposure were removed, yielding 33 articles from 28 studies for analysis. There were 8 papers that examined outdoor air quality, while 6 papers examined SHS exposure and 19 papers examined indoor air quality. The results indicated an association between outdoor air pollution and reduced fecundability, including TRAP and specifically nitrogen oxides and PM with a diameter of ≤2.5 µm, as well as exposure to SHS and formaldehyde. However, exposure windows differed greatly between studies as did the method of exposure assessment. There was little evidence that exposure to volatile solvents is associated with reduced fecundability.Wider implicationsThe evidence suggests that exposure to outdoor air pollutants, SHS and some occupational inhaled pollutants may reduce fecundability. Future studies of SHS should use indoor air monitors and biomarkers to improve exposure assessment. Air monitors that capture real-time exposure can provide valuable insight about the role of indoor air pollution and are helpful in assessing the short-term acute effects of pollutants on TTP.

Dataset Information

Soot and the city: Evaluating the impacts of Clean Heat policies on indoor/outdoor air quality in New York City apartments.

Publications

Soot and the city: Evaluating the impacts of Clean Heat policies on indoor/outdoor air quality in New York City apartments.

Similar Datasets

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