Real stories about air quality and health
When we talk about the health consequences of air pollution, we often talk in broad terms. You’ve probably heard the statistic that along the Wasatch Front air pollution takes an average of two years off residents’ lives.
Recognizing the health consequences of air pollution and attributing real faces and names to those affected is a crucial step in understanding the gravity of environmental issues. It helps to humanize the impact of pollution, making it more relatable and emphasizing the urgent need for environmental justice.
When we put a real face and name to the health consequences of air pollution, we move beyond abstract statistics and data points.
Recent KUER and Salt Lake Tribune articles did just that by telling the story of 13 year-old Oliver and his struggle with asthma after moving to Kearns. “Their house was also near a gravel pit, a construction manufacturing facility and a snack food distribution center — all polluting industries. The home is not too far from the ailing Great Salt Lake as well, and the parched lakebed exacerbates the dust storms that sometimes smother the area.”
Oliver is quoted in the articles “There are times that I just really wish that I could do something, but I can’t because of the air. And so I don’t necessarily get mad at it. But I’m just sad that I can’t go and do something while I see my friends doing it.” He describes not being able to play soccer, as he used to before developing asthma, because of his lung capacity.
I provided a physician’s perspective for the article. “The lungs [of Wasatch Front residents] don’t look young, healthy and pink, like they should. When we see autopsy studies that show air pollution particles contaminating the placenta, the lungs, the brain, the liver, we know that some of those particles never leave the body.”
UPHE’s own staff member, Brandi, sent an email just earlier this week with her own personal story of developing asthma during one of the year’s worst inversions.
These stories help us all to have empathy for those people that become obvious victims of our air pollution. But all of us suffer from our pollution exposure, even if we don’t have symptoms or recognize the connection. These stories, and your story, can be powerful tools in helping to change the minds of policy makers.
