The air on the New York City subway contains skin and rotting wood, a new study has shown.
Though daily commuters of the city's transport system may be horrified to hear what they are breathing in every day - the results did have some positive findings.
The microbe population in the air of the subway system is nearly identical to that of the air on the city streets, it also found, which was said to prove how effective it is to have a ventilation system on subways.
The air on the New York City subway contains skin and rotting wood, a new study has shown
The research, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, sought to find out if there were any potentially dangerous microbes in the subway's air.
Principal investigator Norman R. Pace of the University of Colorado, Boulder, said he was 'impressed by the similarity of [subway] and outdoor air' [which is a] strong testimony for the efficiency of the train pumping system for ventilation.
More...
Travelling on the Tube could be bad for your health because the air is rich in 'toxic dust'
Man 'leaps' off top of Empire State Building... and lands one story below on observation deck
'The wind one feels while walking across a subway grate as the subway clatters beneath also demonstrates just how effective that system is,' he said, adding that the only obvious difference was the high proportion of 'skin microbiota and the doubled density of fungal population.
He suggested this may be due to rotting wood.
Hot, poorly ventilated underground stations are the perfect environment for toxic dusts to accumulate, say experts
The study was similar to one carried out on London's underground railway station.
Experts found that small dust particles in the air found on tubes were quite different to the dust breathed in most other surroundings.
They also discovered that this may have health implications because they could penetrate the lungs and body easily including the liver, brain and kidneys.