NYC's Air Cleanest It's Been Since Industrial Revolution: Mayor

NEW YORK, NY — New Yorkers are filling their lungs with the cleanest air that the city's had for centuries, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

"Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, New Yorkers have not been able to breathe air this clean," he said.

"We are making significant strides in reducing air pollution to help protect the health of everyone in our city. That said, there is still much more work to do to bring down pollution in some parts of the city, where it disproportionately affects already vulnerable communities."

The mayor's comment was a reaction to an air survey carried out by the city's department of health which found that levels of particles in the air, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide and black carbon have dropped by 28, 27, 35 and 24 percent respectively since 2008.

The biggest drop was in sulfur dioxide, which fell by 95 percent. The city said that was largely due to phasing out a type of heating oil.

The city has a stated aim to have the cleanest air of any big U.S. city by 2030.

Another air quality report released by The American Lung Association this week showed that, nationally, ozone pollution worsened significantly from 2014-2016.

Many cities had more days when ground-level ozone — known as "smog" — reached unhealthy levels, the report said.

California had many of the cities with the most air pollution. Eight of the 10 smoggiest cities and eight of the 10 most soot-ridden cities reside in the Golden State. Among these were Los Angeles, Fresno, Bakersfield and Visalia.

Here are the full rankings:

By Ozone

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, CA
4. Fresno-Madera, CA
5. Sacramento-Roseville, CA
6. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
7. Modesto-Merced, CA
8. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
9. Redding-Red Bluff, CA
10. New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA
11. Houston-The Woodlands, TX
12. Las Vegas-Henderson, NV-AZ
13. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
14. Denver-Aurora, CO
15. El Centro, CA
16. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK
17. Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
18. Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT
19. Fort Collins, CO
20. Hartford-West Hartford, CT
21. Chico, CA
22. Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
23. Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA
24. Sheboygan, WI
25. Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD

"New York City's air quality has improved considerably due to sustained efforts at the city, state and federal levels," said Harold Wimmer, the American Lung Association's president.

"Despite reaching historically clean levels, far too many New Yorkers continue to be exposed to unheatlhy levels of air pollution. It's imperative that New York continues to show leadership and helps lead the charge against any rollbacks of clean air safeguards on the federal level."

Ozone and particle pollution are associated with premature death, developmental harm, reproductive harm, lung cancer and heart damage, the ALA says.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images