Air quality and drinking water are big concerns to Long Islanders: Survey

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The quality of the air and drinking water are of big concerns to Long Islanders.

That’s according to the results of the Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine” poll, which were released Thursday. The poll surveyed 600 adults living on Long Island and New York City.

In the poll, only 46% of Long Islanders surveyed said they are satisfied with the environmental health of their residential areas. And 89% of the survey’s overall respondents worried about the safety of the air they breathe, while 91% said they are very concerned or concerned about air pollution. Water pollution was their next highest concern.

“Research has shown that high levels of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide can cause distress for people with heart or respiratory disease and put them at risk for other life-threatening diseases or illnesses,” Dr. Adhi Sharma, president of Mount Sinai South Nassau, said in a written statement.

“There is also increasing evidence s that exposure to air pollution, mainly fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, is associated with the development of metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, hypertension, stroke, and heart failure,” he added.

The poll was conducted from July 6 – 10, not long after the smoke form the Canadian wildfires blanketed New York. And while that unease has since abated, health officials in New York City raised potential air quality concerns as recently as October.

The American Lung Association’s 2023 Annual “State of the Air” report ranked the New York metro area 12th worst for high ozone pollution days among 227 nationwide metro areas; 59th worst for 24-hour particle pollution among 223 U.S. metro and 71st worst for annual particle pollution among U.S. 200 metropolitan areas.

The report grades Americans’ exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, annual particle pollution, and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period.

The report was based on findings from air quality monitoring stations, including five on Long Island, that showed Riverhead, Holtsville, East Northport, and Westbury exceeded the World Health Organization’s guidelines by nearly twice. Data from a station in Glen Cove showed that the area exceeded the World Health Organization’s guidelines by two to three times.

“Like Mount Sinai South Nassau, we understand that a healthy and vibrant environment is a cornerstone of the quality of life that we enjoy,” Linda Armyn, president and CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which sponsored the survey, said in a statement. “I strongly encourage the communities and customers we serve to make protecting and preserving our environment a top priority.”

The health system offers tips for healthy air and water quality in the Current News section of its website.