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Commuters now have yet another reason to avoid packing themselves into subway stations. New York City’s transit system exposes riders to more inhaled pollutants than any other metropolitan subway system in the Northeastern United States, a new study finds. Yet even its “cleaner” neighbors struggle with enough toxins to give health-conscious travelers pause.
Led by NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers, the study measured air quality samples in 71 stations at morning and evening rush hours in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Among the 13 underground stations tested in New York, the investigators found concentrations of hazardous metals and organic particles that ranged anywhere from 2 to 7 times that of outdoor air samples.