New York state Sen. Gustavo Rivera passed a bill aimed to help protect children who suffer from asthma.

According to Rivera’s Office, one in every 10 kids in New York suffer from asthma. In the Bronx, one in four kids have the condition.

Environmentalists often refer to an area of Mott Haven as “asthma alley” due to the strong smell of fumes and pollution.

Under Rivera’s new bill, rescue inhalers would be readily available for all children at public care facilities in the same way that EpiPen’s are.

The bill was passed by the state Senate on Wednesday. It still needs to be signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Inhalers typically help children suffering from severe and sudden asthma attacks.

New York City has one of the country's highest rates of hospitalizations and deaths due to asthma among children, according to Columbia University.

Rivera says a lack of access to inhalers can pose a major challenge.

"This obviously impacts all sorts of things, it impacts the type of physical activity they can do, it has an impact on their families, because if they don't have access to care, that means their parents have to take them to the emergency room when their children have an attack. There’s all types of issues that come from this,” Rivera says.

The senator says he recognizes that rescue inhalers are used to treat symptoms. To help children even further, he says lawmakers must also work to improve what is causing the asthma in the first place, like housing conditions, pest issues and pollution.

Rivera says to expect more legislation in the future and that this bill is just the beginning.