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You Probably Inhaled the NYPD's Subway Gas Mapper on Your Morning Commute

Hope you like perfluorocarbon.
Image: Wikimedia

If you rode the Subway today in New York City on your way to work you probably inhaled a little more than your usual cocktail of bacteria and fungi. The NYPD is beginning an examination of subway airflow in cautious preparation for hypothetical airborne toxic events of the future. With the help of Brookhaven National Laboratory, they're releasing small amounts of perfluorocarbon tracer gases through stations in all five boroughs. Perfluorocarbon tracers are odorless and non-toxic, and not worth worrying about. The manmade gases are also very easily detectable, making them ideal for tracking how gas moves through our subterranean transit tunnels. Previously, these gases have been used for everything from mapping underground oil caverns to tracing ransom money after transactions.

Unlike the airborne toxic event in Don Delillo’s masterpiece, this is merely a simulation. It will hopefully allow for more adept responses to whatever emergencies might (knock on wood) befall NYC in the event of a terrorist attack.