The Health Department and Queens College (QC-CUNY) are conducting the New York City Community Air Survey (PDF) to evaluate how air quality differs across New York City. As part of the City’s sustainability initiative, PlaNYC, this program studies how pollutants from traffic, buildings (boilers and furnaces), and other sources impact air quality in different neighborhoods.

NYCCAS monitors pollutants that cause health problems such as fine particles, ntrogen oxides, elemental carbon (a marker for diesel exhaust particles), sulfur dioxide and ozone. The Health Department estimates (PDF) that at current levels fine particle pollution alone causes more than 3000 deaths, 2000 hospital admissions for lung and heart conditions, and 6000 emergency department admissions for asthma.

NYCCAS air pollution measurements are taken at about 150 locations throughout New York City in each season. Monitors are mounted 10 to 12 feet off the ground on public light poles or utility poles along streets and in some parks. The monitors use a small battery-powered pump and filters to collect air samples.

Air Pollution Exposure - NYCCAS Results

Trends over time - results from 4 years of monitoring:

• Summary
• PM2.5
• NO
• NO2
• SO2
• Ozone
• Black Carbon
• Results from Years One and Two December 2008 – December 2010 (PDF)
• Results from Year One Monitoring 2008-2009 (PDF)
  • Annex: Exploring the effect of vegetative cover on pollutant levels (PDF)
    
• Results from Summer Monitoring 2009 (PDF)
• Results from Winter Monitoring 2008-9 (PDF)
• Supplemental report: Nickel Concentrations in Ambient Fine Particles: Winter Monitoring, 2008-2009 (PDF)
  
• NYCCAS Fact Sheet (PDF)
  Other languages: [Español] 
• Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
  

Environmental Public Health Tracking Portal

Air Pollution Health Effects

• Matte T, Ross Z, Kheirbek I, et al. 2013. Monitoring intraurban spatial patterns of multiple combustion air pollutants in New York City: Design and Implementation. J Exposure and Environmental Epidemiology. doi:10.1038/jes.2012.126 
• Clougherty JE, Kheirbek I, Eisl HM, et al. 2013. Intra-urban spatial variability in wintertime street-level concentrations of multiple combustion-related air pollutants: The New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS). J Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. doi:10.1038/jes.2012.125. 
• Air Pollution and the Health of New Yorkers: The Impact of Fine Particles and Ozone (PDF)
• Kheirbek I, Wheeler K, Walters S, et al. 2012 PM2.5 and Ozone Health Impacts and Disparities in New York City: Sensitivity to Spatial and Temporal Resolution. Air Qual Atmos Health Environ DOI:10.1007/s11869-012-0185-4
• Ito K, Mathes R, Ross Z, Nádas A, Thurston G, et al. 2010 Fine Particulate Matter Constituents Associated with Cardiovascular Hospitalizations and Mortality in New York City. Environ Health Perspect doi:10.1289/ehp.1002667.
• Mathes RW, Ito K, Matte T (2011) Assessing Syndromic Surveillance of Cardiovascular Outcomes from Emergency Department Chief Complaint Data in New York City. PLoS ONE 6(2): e14677. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014677.
• Kheirbek I, Johnson S, Ross Z, Pezeshki G, Ito K, Eisl H, Matte T. Spatial variability in levels of benzene, formaldehyde and xylenes in New York City: a land-use regression study. Environ Health.