Pollution from diesel trucks is largely responsible for South Bronx kids’ having one of the highest asthma rates in the city, a study has found.
NYU researchers had 40 students from CS 152, MS 201, MS 302 and PS 154 – each located near a congested highway or truck route – wear backpacks capable of monitoring diesel soot from air samples.
They were exposed to particulate matter ranging from 20 to 50 micrograms per cubic meter. The federal limit of 35 was surpassed every third school day.
Ten asthmatic students from each school were tracked for a month. The traffic corridors included the Major Deegan Expressway, the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Hunts Point Market.
Bronx Congressman José Serrano joined the researchers in calling for a reduction of truck traffic in a neighborhood where at least one in five children suffers from asthma.