Pollution can be deadly, panel says

Air pollution is killing people in Utah and elsewhere around the world, according to panelists who spoke Friday at the University of Utah's medical school.

Some panelists and audience members at the InfoFair 2008 conference titled "The Air We Breathe" struggled with how best to paint a picture for people of how environmental factors such as air pollution impact human health.

Utah anesthesiologist Dr. Brian Moench also said many people in the medical community aren't grasping the link between the environment and health enough to teach patients about prevention before environmental factors such as air pollution make them sick.

"There are real cancers, there are families, there are sons and daughters and little children who are going to the hospital, who are dying, who are having all sorts of health outcomes because of this problem we're not solving," Moench said.

Devra Lee Davis, an epidemiology professor and director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, noted videos available on the Internet that visually link air pollution from idling school buses to health issues in children. Showing children being exposed to pollution "can be a very powerful motivator," she said.

Moench cited research that has shown that children experience inflammation of the brain and poor testing skills after sitting too long in idling diesel buses. To help combat such problems, Utah lawmakers and school districts this past year took steps to reduce idling times for buses.

But panelists and audience members agreed that people are "overwhelmed" by too much information and are maligning or tuning out groups like Moench's Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. He and other doctors formed the group in March 2007 and have a Web site at www.uphe.org.

Moench for the past 18 months has been a strong activist for cleaner air, publicly speaking out about the health effects of pollution caused by everything from fireworks to coal-fired power plants.

Moench asked Davis if physicians should remain above the "political fray" and only relay scientific information to the public, or if they should picket and demonstrate for improved air quality.

"You know, I can't give you a simple answer," replied Davis,

"Ultimately, it's a moral question," she said. "You have to pick your own battles. ... You have to be comfortable in your soul with what you're doing."

Davis is in demand around the world for her expertise. She's written two books, "The Secret History of the War on Cancer" and "When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution." She has her own Web site, www.DevraDavis.com, which promotes her charitable foundation for cancer-prevention resources.