It’s more than just dust, and it will impact some more than others

“Everybody studies and the dust keeps coming and we don’t do anything about it,” Terry Marasco, a west-side activist, told the Salt Lake Tribune. 

A recently published study revealed that toxic dust storms from the drying Great Salt Lake disproportionately affect Utah’s Hispanic and Pacific Islander communities. “The study found what most people already know – everyone who lives near the Great Salt Lake faces potentially unhealthy levels of dust exposure, but the risks are worse for racial and ethnic minorities living on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley,” the Tribune article wrote. 

The Tribune asked Dr. Moench to weigh in. He warned that dust from the dry lake bed is more dangerous than it appears. It can carry toxic heavy metals, persistent forever chemicals, and infectious microorganisms, all of which amplify its harmful effects on health.

Even without these dangerous additives, regular dust can wreak havoc on the body. PM 2.5 particles, which the study measured, are so small they can penetrate deep into the lungs and other tissues, causing serious health issues.

Dust pollution can worsen existing health conditions, often triggering asthma attacks or allergic reactions. West-side residents already suffer from some of the highest asthma rates along the Wasatch Front. 

That’s why UPHE and partners are suing the state. In other parts of the world, where saline lakes have been allowed to shrivel up because of upstream diversions like those happening at the Great Salt Lake, the end result has been public health disasters from the clouds of relentless toxic dust. Utah’s leaders are prioritizing these water diversions over protecting their own people, so the courts must intervene.

Full Salt Lake Tribune article.