Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, couldn't help but notice the picturesque — and unimpeded — view of the snow-covered foothills from the window in front of her as she sat in a room inside the Utah Capitol on Monday.
It was a completely different situation from the start of last week, as an ongoing inversion impacted this view and worsened air quality along parts of the Wasatch Front.
"Last week, many of us couldn't breathe — some of us had headaches (and) some of us had family members' asthma acted up," she said, as she looked out toward Ensign Peak.
Although snowstorms helped improve air quality for this week, the recent inversions inspired Romero and Utah Senate Minority Leader Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, to host an event Monday to formally launch a new program that aims to help some of the most vulnerable residents when it comes to poor air quality.
The Furnace Filter Exchange Program, led by the University of Utah, provides up to 100 high-quality air filters to families on the west side of Salt Lake City and West Valley City. These filters can help improve indoor air quality while researchers also plan to study indoor air quality before and after the installation of the filters to help bolster indoor air quality research.
"We sometimes keep an eye on the outside without focusing on the inside of our own homes," Escamilla said. "We see the worst air quality in the state (with northwest Salt Lake County) and our goal is to reach the families."
Families within the selected areas can sign up for a free filter online. Those who are selected will receive four MERV-11 air filters for their furnace, the first of which a University of Utah research team will install.
Researchers will also set up sensors inside and outside of the home to track air quality for some time, according to Daniel Mendoza, an assistant professor of atmospheric science and internal medicine at the University of Utah. The data they collect will be put into a report sent back to the homeowner, but also combined into a comprehensive report about indoor air quality that will be released to the public.
While outdoor air quality is often tracked and brought up as a concern, Mendoza points out that recent studies suggest that indoor air quality can be up to five times worse than the air quality outside, and indoor sources account for about 90% of what people breathe.
He helped lead a 2021 study that showed how poor outside air quality can seep into buildings, but he adds that other sources inside homes can add to it. These include candles, incense, vacuums and stoves. Filters can help improve indoor air quality by capturing the dust and particulate matter that moves through a home.
However, Mendoza says that most people end up buying a filter that falls between a 5 or 8 on the MERV scale, which takes only about 20-30% of pollutants. MERV-11 air filters, which the program will use, can filter out up to about 90% of these. He adds that it's the best filter without putting a "strain" on a home's HVAC system.
"Generally there are about 10 to 12 air exchanges in a home when the furnace is running, so ultimately it will not filter all of it, but it will pick up a large amount of the pollution that's coming in," he said.
The program, which received funds from the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, follows a small test with 11 homes last year. That test found that many families don't even change their filters, said Dr. Shana Godred-Cato, a University of Utah Health pediatrician. Experts recommend that people should change their filters every month.
She said she hopes to expand the program to even more homes and in other communities in the future, as well.
The program's launch occurs as air quality figures to be a major topic again this legislative session. Gov. Spencer Cox's proposed 2025 fiscal year budget includes nearly $50 million toward air quality improvements. Romero said she expects there will also be proposed legislation that aims to improve air quality.
"Air quality is one of our No. 1 issues," she said. "We're calling on our colleagues to look at the air that we were breathing last week — and the air that we will continue to breathe — to join us in funding more projects that are going to help residents of not only Salt Lake City and West Valley, but the state of Utah breathe cleaner air."
The legislative session will begin next week and last through March 1.
