AIR POLLUTION IN HARLEM
By Eva Lewis
INTRODUCTION
Air quality is a continuing problem in the United States and the world, caused
by the combustion of fossil fuels from heating systems, motor vehicles, and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs come from chemical plants, refineries,
and commercial establishments. In the U.S., air pollution has been regulated
to reduce the emissions of dangerous pollutants. The most current act is the
Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970. It established standards regulating
how much exposure humans could have to carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, nitrogen
dioxide, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. Even with the decrease in these
critical pollutants problems still occur in public health, especially in populous
areas such as Harlem.
CAUSES
Increases in car use, car sizes, and miles driven all contribute to increased
levels of the six major pollutants. These harmful emissions are ever present
in urban settings. Smog, acid rain, climate change, and the depletion of ozone
levels are factors that contribute to air pollution in New York City. Also higher
levels of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxide occur because
of the multiple harmful emissions. Increases in traffic congestion and the idling
of trucks and buses are the main reasons for the increase in air pollution in
Harlem. Heightened levels of air pollution have been found to have a direct
correlation with on a person’s health problems.
EFFECTS
The health effects have been drastic for Harlem. Nearly 25% of Harlem children
have asthma, five times the national incidence of asthma at a rate of 5% to
7% of children in the same age group. Children are more vulnerable because their
lungs are still developing. The air pollutants ozone, nitrogen oxide, and particulate
matter plague the Harlem community and have caused an increase of asthmatic
symptoms.
Asthma is a respiratory system condition in which the air tubes to the lungs
become constricted. It is a condition that develops only in people who have
a genetic predisposition towards asthma, but the environmental factor of air
pollution causes the predisposition to develop into something more serious.
For this reason, it is not surprising to have such an increased rate of asthma
(Banta).
SOLUTIONS
Researchers, public officials, and the school system have addressed the problem
of asthma in Harlem. Asthma awareness is included in the public school teaching
curriculum. Both New York senators, Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodman Clinton,
have made public commitments to fighting asthma in Harlem. Schumer has tried
to appropriate $200 million in funding for 2,000 new asthma counselors. While
these policies are helpful, they do not tackle the direct root of the problem.
The regulation of air pollutants under the Environmental Protection Agency and
the New York City laws that prohibit idling of trucks and buses over 5 minutes
are the policies that could reduce air pollutants and consequently reduce asthma
rates among the children of Harlem (Gram). If these policies were enforced,
Harlem would have the capability to reduce the number of asthma cases and improve
the overall environment of its community.
REFERENCES
Banta, Carolyn. (2004, January 1). Study shows air pollution increases cases
of asthma. Lehigh University’s The Brown and White. Retrieved March 21,
2004 from http://www.bw.lehigh.edu/story.asp?ID=17039.
Gram, Margaret. (2003, November 2). Combating Harlem’s Asthma Epidemic.
AlterNet.org. Retrieved from http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17092.\
Office of NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Retrieved March 21, 2004 from
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2002/jun/jun18a_02_attach.pdf.