For Gaddy, an African-American woman, the report’s findings confirm what she and her neighbors in Newark’s predominantly black South Ward have been experiencing for years. Gaddy and her three children were diagnosed with asthma; Her eldest child died of a heart attack in 2021 at the age of 32.
“It’s simply the cumulative effects of pollution that are harming us,” Gaddy said. “And unfortunately that’s exactly what’s happening in our city.”
According to the report, 1.8 million adults with asthma and 370,000 children live with the disease in the New York/Newark metropolitan area.
Researchers hope that a set of new car emissions standards announced last month by the Biden administration could significantly reduce some forms of particulate pollution.
According to the newly proposed standard, 56 percent of all new vehicles sold should be electric by 2032; The proposal also calls for an increase in the number of plug-in hybrid or other partially electric vehicles, as well as more efficient gasoline-powered vehicles.
“We have seen the Environmental Protection Agency finalize a number of new standards to address air pollution and address climate change, and more are on the way,” Bender said.
“We have seen the stricter particulate matter standard. We have seen strong action to reduce emissions from future cars and trucks. We have seen measures to reduce methane and volatile organic compounds from the oil and gas industry,” she said. “And we urge the administration to cross the finish line and complete more items on their to-do list.”
Bender said the association hopes the EPA will update the national ozone standard, which has not been revised since 2015.
“Sometimes people don’t realize that bad air can affect them quite drastically,” said Amit “Bobby” Mahajan, a national spokesman for the Lung Association. “We know there are asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, but we are also seeing an increase in premature births, cognitive impairment and the development of lung cancer in people exposed to high levels of ozone and particulate pollution.
“So not only is it important to provide clean air, but providing clean air also minimizes the number of exposures we have to these serious diseases and, frankly, reduces our risk of suffering from fatal underlying diseases.”” said Mahajan, who also serves as director of interventional pulmonology at Inova Health System in Northern Virginia.
Gaddy said she is confident federal officials will soon act on recommendations from researchers and other experts to help ease the asthma crisis in her city.
“We know that eventually our communities will heal and get back to the level they should be,” Gaddy added. “And just because of our zip code or the color of our skin, our communities will not continue to be victim zones.”