The history of scientific progress teaches valuable lessons. Asbestos, lead, DDT, tobacco, PCBs and nuclear radiation were all accepted as harmless or even health-promoting in their day. Over time, we learned how dangerous they were, and public policy was changed. We have reached a similar threshold with air pollution, yet the editorial board's acknowledgement of air pollution's health impact was limited to "a tie to certain respiratory and heart ailments." Our interpretation of the recent scientific data matches that of the hundreds of scientists who did the research.

The scientific evidence is clear. Levels of air pollution previously thought to be benign are not. There is no threshold below which there is no health impact. All families along the Wasatch Front are affected. The health consequences include but are not limited to increased rates of the following: death from heart attacks, congestive heart failure, strokes and respiratory failure, infant mortality, SIDS, low birth weight, birth defects, genetic damage in newborns, cancer rates in children and adults, permanent arrested development of lung capacity in children. Mercury, the most toxic component of air pollution, according to the EPA, is classified as such because of its association with a broad range of neurologic disorders from minor loss of intellectual capacity to autism.

Our conclusions are unpleasant, but it doesn't make them any less true. Because air pollution affects us all, especially our children, we need everyone's help to eliminate it. We invite the Deseret Morning News and its readers to join us.

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These physicians have signed their names: Brian Moench, Gerald Ross, Scott Hurst, Maunsel Pearce, Zell McGee, Richard Kanner, Chris Cowley, Shellie Ring and doctoral candidate Charles Langelier.