Aviana Cova is living, breathing testimony to the importance of clean air.

The 8-month-old baby didn't say much, cuddled in the arms of her mother, Cameron Cova. All Aviana managed to put into the recording of Tuesday's meeting of the Utah Board of Air Quality were a few gurgles and a momentary loud scratchy sound when she played with the microphone.

But after more than an hour of brain-pounding statistics and warnings by physicians about the many threats that dirty air poses, mother and daughter put it all into perspective.

Cova, Salt Lake City, is a member of the newly formed group Utah Moms for Clear Air. The nonpartisan group of mothers along the Wasatch Front is acting as an information clearinghouse, an advocacy organization and as support for Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.

The physicians spoke for much of Tuesday's board meeting, held in offices of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, 168 N. 1950 West. Doctors reiterated points their group made during a press conference April 4.

They called for emergency measures to reduce air pollution, such as expanded and free mass transit; rules to lower speed limits on freeways to 55 mph during bad air days; a ban on coal-fired power plants; retrofitting existing plants with state-of-the-art pollution controls; reducing pollution by 20 percent within five years; and increasing the public's awareness of the danger of air pollution.

The physicians' recommendations are important for everyone in the state, Cova said as she sat in a witness chair and held Aviana.

The baby was born at the beginning of the 2006-07 winter air inversion season, Cova noted. She seemed to be doing well but then caught a cold.

As the inversion deepened into a lengthy spell of foul air in early January, Aviana's cold worsened and became "a pretty bad lung infection," her mom said. The disease was bronchiolitis, which can develop into pneumonia, or could trigger asthma later in life.

Cova believes the inversion had a connection to the ailment. She said doctors told her it would be better if the baby could leave Salt Lake City during the bad air.

The child is doing well now. But, Cova said, "It's quite likely that that may have reduced her lung function for the rest of her life — we don't know."

Public interest in air pollution's harm is growing, she added. Since the group was formed a few weeks ago, it has received hundreds of e-mails.

"So be prepared for more and more of us to come and visit you," Cova told the panel.

After the presentations, the panel expressed gratitude for the group's statements. "I would encourage you now to help us with the marching orders," one board member said.

"I think we're all ready to work on this."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com