Utah MDs campaign for clean air to ease 'health crisis'

Alarmed by death and damage to health caused by air pollution, several Utah physicians are calling for the state to take strong action.

From mandatory dips in freeway speed limits during smoggy days to a ban on new coal-fired power plants, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment proposed what they acknowledge are bold actions Monday during a press conference at LDS Hospital.

Among the proposals are reducing speed limits on bad-air days, a moratorium on building coal-fired power plants and an air-pollution course in elementary school curriculum.

They cited scientific studies showing that heart attacks and strokes are linked to air pollution; that methyl mercury pollution is blamed for declining wildlife; that ozone pollution may cause faster aging; and that air pollution could cause genetic changes that will be passed on from generation to generation.

Such concerns prompted them "to be activists for our patients," said Dr. Brian Moench, a Salt Lake anesthesiologist.

"Current air-pollution levels along the Wasatch Front constitute a health crisis," he said. If the increasing levels of pollution aren't checked, in 20 years a full-blown catastrophe could happen, he said.

Because of population growth, motor vehicle traffic — the source of 65 percent of air pollution — could double in 20 years, he said. With climate changes, more droughts could be expected, also increasing ozone pollution, he added.

Four new coal-fired power plants are on the drawing boards for the Beehive State, according to Moench; they are among 150 such facilities planned across America. The plants release mercury pollution, and there is no way to capture the vapor, he added.

Mercury is deposited on the ground and into water. When bacteria transform it, the material becomes dangerous methyl mercury. That accumulates up the food chain, increasing many times, he said, and poses a danger. It is particularly serious for babies, the most vulnerable members of society.

"More electricity from coal would simply be a full frontal assault on public health," Moench said.

In terms of health and other impacts, he added, air pollution costs Utah people at least $4 billion annually.

The danger from air pollution extends beyond Salt Lake City and Provo, according to Dr. Richard Kanner of the University of Utah School of Medicine, whose speciality is the respiratory system. "It's more than the Wasatch Front," he said.

"We know that Cache County has a problem." And problems like Cache County's high particulate levels might show up elsewhere in Utah if the state had monitors in many locations, he said.

The very young and old are at most risk, along with "patients who have heart and lung disease," Kanner said.