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SALT LAKE CITY — The Wasatch Front is seeing better days when it comes to air quality, but despite improvements, the state still has some of the worst polluted air in the country.
The American Lung Association's 2016 "State of the Air" report lists Salt Lake City and surrounding Provo and Orem areas as the sixth-most polluted city in the country, with Logan coming in at seventh place.
The ranking deals with short-term particle pollution, caused by soot or tiny particles that come from coal-fired power plants, diesel emissions, wildfires and wood-burning devices. Other cities among the worst polluted with particulate matter are mostly in California, but also in Alaska, Alabama and Montana, rounding out the Top 10.
Health issues
The findings point to worsening health issues, as "unhealthful levels of short-term particle pollution in Salt Lake City is putting our local citizens at risk for premature death and other serious health effects, such as asthma attacks and cardiovascular harm," said Jamie Riccobono, executive director of the Utah chapter of the American Lung Association.
She said the small particles can get lodged deep in the lungs and trigger breathing problems, heart attacks and strokes, which can be deadly.
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment believes between 1,000 and 2,000 people die every year in Utah due to the impacts of air pollution. The advocacy group of doctors also believes air pollution causes problems in unborn babies, as well as pregnancy complications for mothers, and also impacts learning in children.
The Lung Association's report and Utah's poor rankings within it, according to the advocacy group, are "another reason for taking this public health hazard much more seriously."
And while the state saw fewer days when pollution reached unhealthy levels this year, data analyzed in the report was collected from 2012 to 2014. Pollutant levels, however, have improved from the 2015 report, which used 2011-2013 data.
Between 2012-2014, Salt Lake City had 44 EPA-rated orange days, meaning the air was unhealthy for sensitive groups; and 11 red days, when particle pollution levels are unhealthy for everyone. Cache County had 38 orange and 14 red days during that period; Utah County saw 21 orange days and 15 red; and Davis County had 13 orange days.
As far as ozone pollution levels, Uintah County carries the worst ratings, with 41 orange level days, 24 red and 18 purple, which points to very unhealthy air days. Duchesne County also had five purple air days during those years, according to the report.
Improvements seen
The report indicates that in the 25 most polluted cities, the majority saw improvements from last year.
More than half US population lives amid dangerous air pollution, American Lung Association report warns https://t.co/6jnJ61Oupt
— Deborah Blum (@deborahblum) April 20, 2016
Nationwide, pollution has decreased because the nation has cleaned up major sources of the emissions that create ozone, especially coal-fired power plants and vehicles, according to the American Lung Association. However, according to research, climate change doubles the problem by causing warmer temperatures, making ozone thicker and harder to clean.
"We can and must do more to save lives and fight climate change," said Harold Wimmer, American Lung Association president and CEO. "States should not wait to clean up carbon pollution from their power plants."
The national organization calls on the EPA to "adopt strong, health-protective standards to limit emissions of methane and toxic pollutants that contribute to ozone pollution and climate change from oil and gas production."
The highest levels of pollution have been found in the most populated areas of Utah, including Salt Lake City and Cache, Weber and Utah counties, according to the American Lung Association report. Utah's southwestern locale of St. George lands much further down the list, actually boasting one of the cleanest locations for short-term particle pollution.
The report ranks Uintah County poorly for its ozone pollution levels, which puts its population of 36,867 (a third of whom are children) at risk during the average 38 days of highly unhealthy air days each year.
In all, the report indicates that more than half of all Americans — 166 million people — live in counties where they are exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone and/or particle pollutants.
The entire 157-page report can be found online at www.lung.org.
