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Fernando A. Picasso Prof. Nathan Cole English 2010 Sect. 74 25 April, 2014 Report Final Draft (Revision B) Utah Air Quality: Its Terrible The winter time in the Salt Lake Valley is a very depressing time of year. The scent of the cool winter breeze has been replaced by odor of exhaust fumes that hits the citizens nostrils as soon as they open the front door. The warm rays of the sun seem to diminish as they get closer to the surface of the earth. The beautiful snow covered mountains, which make up for a breath taking view from the far west side of the valley, are hidden by air that is so thick that the tops of the mountains are barely visible. With everyone owning a car, some even owning two or more gas guzzlers, it is no mystery why the pollution in the air becomes so visible during the winter season. Since the general public is one of the main causes of the highly polluted air in various U.S. cities, residents should be taught what makes for low air quality and be informed of what is being done to improve it. (Photo: Kerry Kelly, Photographer)

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The main pollutant that is used to measure air quality is PM10. These particles come from any carbon-producing practice, especially from the gas-consuming cars everyone drives on a daily basis. PM10 particles, which are particles of 10 micrometers or less, which can penetrate into the lungs and may enter the bloodstream, can cause heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and acute lower respiratory infections (World Health Organization). Back in December 1952, London residents were exposed to high levels of PM10 over a four day period. After the smog cleared, a report by the John Hopkins Blooming School of Public Health indicated that there were over 13,500 more deaths than normal during December 1952 through March 1953. Autopsies from these bodies found high amounts of lead and other heavy air-borne metals in the lungs. Today, Londons air pollution has improved because of new laws that would prevent another incident like the Smog of 1952. An example of a new law is London residents had to replace any wood burning heat sources with gas. Comparisons between highly air polluted cities in the U.S. can be made by using the interactive U.S. map that the American Lung Association has on their website. The map indicates which cities have the highest concentration of polluted air, and even categorizes cities by most ozone days, short-term particle pollution, and annual particle pollution. Salt Lake City, along with Ogden, ranked fifth in the nation as being most polluted city by short-term particle pollution, fifty-first for high amount of ozone days, and 134th for annual particle pollution. California has the most cities that rank within the top 10 of each list. With other over populated and highly polluted cities that have groups of people who suffer from Asthma (Pediatric/Adults), Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, pregnancies, as well as minors, elders, and the poor exposed to highly polluted air, the general public is demanding that

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change needs to happen in order to improve the air quality. During late January of 2014, The Salt Lake capital experienced one of its largest rallies regarding the air quality in the Salt Lake Valley. Over 4,000 people showed up, some wearing gas masks, requesting that government officials should make immediate actions to improve the air quality. Representative Becky Edwards (Rep. Salt Lake) states that the new bill HB121 would allow Utah government officials to make more stringent regulations and rules than the EPA standards. We have decisions that are made by the DEQ that are based on environmental modeling. Studies that are done in other parts of the nation, and then we have modeled those to our unique situation here, but we dont have unique Utah specific research for our state (McDonald). With the government in need of information that is specific to the Salt Lake Valley unique air situation, The University of Utah awarded half-dozen grants under the Universitys new Interdisciplinary Air Quality Program to gather that much needed research. These grants, totaling $165,000, will help fund researchers and their studies on the consequences of Utahs air pollution on the human body. Some of these grant awarded researchers are electrical engineers, psychiatrists, bioinformatics, doctors of pulmonary and internal medicines, and obstetrician Jeanette Chin who wants to see what became of the children from pregnancies during the strike and when Geneva was dirtying the air, (Maffly). In the mid 1980s, Geneva Steel mill closed its door while its workers went on a thirteen month strike. With the decrease of particle pollution in the air, so did the number of pre-term births during the same period of time. But as soon as the strike ended and the plant went back online, the numbers of pre-term births went back up. Chin and her team will tap the Utah Population Database to identify Utah County women who were pregnant during the plant closure and had another pregnancy while the plant was operating (Maffly). Once enough evidence is gathered from those individuals who lived during in that area,

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while the plant was in operation and closed, Chin can determine what major health factors take place for individuals who were born with polluted air and compare it to those who were born with clean air. With being able to understand the science that goes into the inversion that creates what looks like a blanket of dirt and smoke that floats in the air, everyone will continue on with their lives breathing in whatever the air has in it. According to the World Health Organization, the guideline for healthy breathable air has an average particle pollution of ten to twenty micrograms per cubic meter. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has been keeping track of the PM10 particle concentration since 2004 with the help of monitoring stations that are located throughout the state. In 2004, the average concentration of the PM10 particle throughout the state was 26.7 micrograms per cubic meter. Below is a graph for Utahs previous ten years Yearly Average of the PM10 Particle per cubic meter. All the information was provided on the Utah Department of Environmental Qualitys website.
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Yearl-to-Date Average of PM10 Particle Pollution (per Meter Cubed) WHO Recommendation for Breathable Air Number of Recording Stations Throughout Utah

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The air quality in the Salt Lake Valley will probably keep getting worse with everyone depending on their own modes of transportation, heat source, or being involved in their daily routines that involve particle-pollutant producing practices. The smog is not going to go away within a short period of time. But with the help of undergoing research and politicians enforcing strict laws regarding air pollution, the residents of the Salt Lake Valley will be able to work together on improving the quality of the air they breathe.

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Works Cited American Lung Association. Most Polluted Cities. n.d. Web Page. 23 February 2014. Bell, Michelle L, Devra L Davis and Tony Fletcher. "A Retrospective Assessment of Mortality from the London Smog Episode." 2004. NCBI. 22 February 2014. Kelly, Kerry. University of Utah Air Quality, Health and Society Program. Photograph. 28 February 2014. Maffly, Brian. Did Pre-Natal Exposure to Utah air Pollution Affect Kids' Health? 8 January 2014. Article. 23 February 2014. McDonald, Amy. In Their Own Words: Air Quality Regulations. 19 February 2014. VideoTaped Interview. 23 February 2014. Utah Department of Enviormental Quality. AMC: Data Archive: Particle PM10. n.d. Archives. 23 February 2014. World Health Organization. Tackling the Global Clean Air Challange. 26 September 2011. 22 Febrary 2014.