File #: Res 1256-2008    Version: * Name: Examination by Mayoral agencies of the ways in which City government is protecting children from the adverse effects of air pollution and how this may be better done.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Health
On agenda: 2/13/2008
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling for an examination by Mayoral agencies of the ways in which City government is protecting children from the adverse effects of air pollution and how this may be better done.
Sponsors: Helen D. Foster, Lewis A. Fidler, Alan J. Gerson, Letitia James, Darlene Mealy, Rosie Mendez, James Sanders, Jr.
Council Member Sponsors: 7

Res. No. 1256

 

Resolution calling for an examination by Mayoral agencies of the ways in which City government is protecting children from the adverse effects of air pollution and how this may be better done.

 

By Council Members Foster, Fidler, Gerson, James, Mealy, Mendez and Sanders Jr.

 

                     Whereas, In 1998, researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health - Center for Children’s Environmental Health began a study, which is still ongoing, entitled, “Environmental Health in a Cohort of Minority Women and Infants,” that follows children from a fetal stage until their fifth birthday and possibly beyond; and

                     Whereas, In an article released by Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health, entitled, “Molecular Evidence of an Interaction Between Prenatal Environmental Exposures on Birth Outcomes in a Multiethnic Population,” which discusses the Columbia University study and was published in the April 2004 issue of The Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, it was noted that the impact of environmental toxicants on children’s health is increasingly being recognized as significant; and

                     Whereas, According to Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health, combined exposure to environmental pollutants at levels currently encountered in New York City adversely affect fetal development; and

                     Whereas, The Columbia University article also noted that human and experimental studies indicate that the fetus and infant are more sensitive than adults to many environmental toxicants, including environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH); and

                     Whereas, The Columbia University article further noted that urban, minority populations represent high-risk groups for adverse birth outcomes and these same populations are likely to be more heavily exposed to ambient air pollution and ETS; and

                     Whereas, According to the Columbia University article, only limited information is available on the extent and impact of prenatal exposure to these environmental contaminants on fetal growth and development; and

                     Whereas, The Columbia University study evaluated and continues to evaluate the effects of prenatal exposure to common urban pollutants and tested the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants alone and/or in combination is associated with low birth weight, length, and head circumference, after controlling for the effects of known physical, biologic and toxic determinants of fetal growth; and

                     Whereas, The Columbia University study provides new molecular epidemiological evidence that exposure to common environmental pollutants, such as (PAH and ETS) at levels currently encountered in New York City can act in combination to adversely affect fetal development; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls for an examination by Mayoral agencies of the ways in which City government is protecting children from the adverse effects of air pollution and how this may be better done.

 

P.M.

LS #2372

2/5/08