Utah Moms for Clean Air

Op-ed by Cherise Udell
Salt Lake Tribune May 3, 2008

Let’s be real: “clean coal” is a marketing slogan not a technological reality. Coal does currently provide us with a reliable source of electricity but at an astronomical price that is hidden from us consumers. Maybe you pay for it with your child’s asthma. Maybe you paid for it with your father’s heart attack or your grandmother’s stroke that took her speech away. Maybe you lost a baby to SIDS on a particularly bad air day.

Emissions from coal fired-power plants are a leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming, air toxins – and premature deaths. The EPA estimates that over 30,000 Americans are dying prematurely each year due to power plant emissions - the majority of which are coal-powered. This doesn’t even address the high mortality rates associated with the mining process. Thus, coal kills more people annually than homicides (16,000 in 2000) or AIDS (14,000) and nearly as many as traffic accidents (42,000).

So when coal industry advocates like Joe Lucas (vice-president of communications for the American Coalition for Clean Coal) and Bountiful resident, Bruce Taylor (co-owner of the proposed coal plant in Sevier County) say “cleaner coal” what exactly do they mean? According the Union of Concerned Scientists a typical coal plant generates:

• 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary human cause of global warming

• 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2)

• 500 tons of small airborne particles, which can cause chronic bronchitis, aggravated asthma, and premature death

• 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), equal to what would be emitted by half a million late-model cars. NOx leads to formation of ozone (smog) which inflames the lungs and

• 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), which causes headaches and place additional stress on people with heart disease.

• 220 tons of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC), which form ozone.

• 170 pounds of mercury, an extremely potent neurotoxin, where just 1/70th of a teaspoon deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe for human consumption. The Great Salt Lake is already heavily contaminated with mercury.

• 225 pounds of arsenic, which will cause cancer in one out of 100 people who regularly drink water containing 50 parts per billion.

• 114 pounds of lead, 4 pounds of cadmium, other toxic heavy metals, and trace amounts of uranium.

(more…)

It isn’t all in your imagination, flowers really don’t smell as sweet anymore (at least over long distances). A recent study has found that the scent of flowers is reduced by air pollution. This reduction in the odor of flowers may even be partially responsible for the shocking collapse of bee colonies.

“The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters [3,300 to 4,000 feet]; but in today’s polluted environment downwind of major cities, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters [650 to 980 feet],” said study team member Jose D. Fuentes. “[A]ir pollution destroys the aroma of flowers, by as much as 90 percent from periods before automobiles and heavy industry,” Fuentes said. “And the more air pollution there is in a region, the greater the destruction of the flower scents.”

Read more about it here and here.

A new study shows early indications that proximity to mercury release from a coal power plant is a predictor of autism prevalence.

It looks like closer to coal = more autism.

A newly published study of Texas school district data and industrial mercury-release data, conducted by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, indeed shows a statistically significant link between pounds of industrial release of mercury and increased autism rates. It also shows—for the first time in scientific literature—a statistically significant association between autism risk and distance from the mercury source.

This is not a definitive study but adds to other research on the effects of mercury, particularly on children.

The new study findings are consistent with a host of other studies that confirm higher amounts of mercury in plants, animals and humans the closer they are to the pollution source. The price on children may be the highest.

Read on:

• Quotations from: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “Autism Risk Linked To Distance From Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources.” ScienceDaily 25 April 2008. 12 May 2008.
• Original article: Palmer, R.F., et al., Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a predictor of autism prevalence. Health & Place (2008).

The Salt Lake Tribune ran an editorial today, titled “Deadly Cocktail: Only you can prevent air pollution” about the deadly state of our air and the need for urgent, creative, and all-encompasing action to solve this serious problem. We cannot hide our head in the sand about this issue and everyone must be part of the solution — individuals, corporations and the govenrment.

“Our nasty air is a public relations disaster, bad for tourism, for economic development, for our quality of life. And worse, it endangers our health. People, particularly the young, the old and those with respiratory ailments, are wheezing, sneezing, gasping and even dying….[I]nstead of being defensive, we need to be proactive, innovative and dedicated to solve our air pollution problems, at every level of government, and in every single home. “

We couldn’t agree more.

We are making progress, but we have a long way to go. Kudos to the Salt Lake Tribune for speaking out (again) about this crisis.

Editorial available here.

Today the American Lung Association issued its annual State of the Air report, including a report card and ranking of the most polluted U.S. cities.

For short-term particle pollution, Utah has three cities listed in the top 25:

• #6 Logan
• #7 Salt Lake City
• #12 Provo

We didn’t fail completely on particle pollution. Box Elder did get a D. Otherwise, yes, we failed our annual grades.

When it comes to ozone, we only failed a little. We didn’t break the top 25 for ozone. Only Salt Lake and Davis got F grades, but Washington County got a D.

In a Salt Lake Tribune story this morning, you can find more interpretation of the local numbers.

Read on

• Judy Fahys, “American Lung Association report: Salt Lake City, Logan ranked among nation’s worst for air pollution,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 1, 2008.
• American Lung Association, State of the Air: 2008, May 1, 2008.
• ALA, State of the Air website.
• ALA, Utah groups at risk.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Summit County Library Auditorium

(Sheldon Richins Building – Kimball Junction)

Park City

Though the mountains are now visible, the Red Air Quality Alert remains in effect in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, and Utah Counties Sunday evening. Cache County has a “moderate” air quality alert in place

A HEALTH ADVISORY statement also remains in effect for Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah Counties. Sensitive people, (those with respiratory disease or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should avoid prolonged outdoor exposure during this dusty episode.

The red air quality alert is expected by the Utah Division of Environmental Quality to end by Monday morning.

Have you looked outside? Where are the mountains, my children asked. Have you heard the dust particles against your windows? Now ask whether you and your children want to breathe this particulate matter into your lungs. “Particulate matter (PM) has been linked to a range of serious respiratory and cardiovascular health problems,” says the EPA. These health problems include “premature mortality.”

In Utah today:

Air quality conditions have deteriorated significantly as persistent, strong south/southwest winds have elevated the blowing dust concentrations.

The Utah Division of Environmental Quality has “upgraded” the previous Yellow Air Quality Action to a Red Air Quality Alert. (Why would this be an upgrade rather than a downgrade?)

Please note that blowing dust does make the air unhealthy for sensitive groups. DEQ recommends “that people take action to avoid dust and dusty situations by remaining indoors.”

Read more:

• Particulate Matter, Environmental Protection Agency
• Particulate Matter Research, EPA
• Particle Pollution (PM10) and (PM2.5), Air Now
• Particle Pollution and Your Health (printable pamphlet), EPA
• Basic information on why Particulate Matter can cause such damage in your lungs and bloodstream, EPA