Health Benefits of Source-Specific Air Pollution Reductions Following Emission Regulations in New York City

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide PM 2.5 source apportionment and time-series models of NO 2 and PM 2.5 with mortality and cardiovascular and asthma morbidity were employed to calculate short-term health benefits from pollution reductions in New York City across different policy-relevant sectors from 2005 to 2019 (2008–2019 for residual oil) using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s BenMAP program. Short-term health risks of nickel and sulfate exposure were also estimated to better understand source-specific risk. Nickel and sulfate served as indicators for residual oil boilers and coal-fired power plants, while NO 2 indicated traffic and building boilers. This assessment’s strength is its use of concentration–response functions developed specifically for our study period and population. Coal-fired power plant PM 2.5 saw the largest decline, avoiding hundreds of excess deaths, asthma hospitalizations, and cardiovascular emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and over 1000 asthma emergency department visits, annually. Reductions in PM 2.5 from residual oil and traffic also led to meaningful health benefits. These substantial health benefits from declining use of coal-fired power plants and residual oil boilers support continued systematic reductions in fossil fuel use. Declines in NO 2 exhibited greater health benefits than those for PM 2.5, despite a smaller percentage reduction, underscoring the potential benefits of further NO x mitigation, such as vehicle and building electrification.