What’s in Great Salt Lake dust that monitors aren’t catching?
Photo courtesy of David Jackson Photography
UPHE’s Dr. Brian Moench was quoted in a recent The Salt Lake Tribune article on the dust monitoring developments. The Utah legislature significantly reduced funding for monitors last session, so although good that we’re working on monitors, $1 mil could be spent on monitors that DON’T meet federal monitoring standards.
Dr. Kevin Perry points out that the PM10 monitoring network is not designed to meet federal standards. UPHE also notes that so far it is not designed to address the multiple hazardous contaminants in that dust beyond the dust itself, i.e. microplastics, heavy metals, PFAS, and many other chemicals that we know are in the dust. Furthermore this network is not designed to pick up the smallest particles which are the greatest health hazard, i.e PM2.5 and ultrafines, i.e. PM 0.1.
“Others who submitted written comments include the U.S. Geological Survey, which endorsed pairing cameras with monitors, and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. The public health advocacy group called on DAQ to track a variety of materials in the lake’s dust, from heavy metals to PFAS, or “forever chemicals.”
While toxic metals like mercury and arsenic have dominated conversations about potential Great Salt Lake pollutants, UPHE’s board president Brian Moench said he has concerns about all the materials discharged by the more than two-dozen wastewater treatment plants and industrial plants that discharge to the lake and its tributaries.
“Just about everything that escapes into the environment at large from sewage treatment plants and industrial waste streams,” Moench said, “includes virtually every chemical that’s a byproduct of modern society.”
A 2022 study found more PFAS in the water discharged from treatment plants than the water entering them. EPA has linked PFAS to cancer, developmental defects and infertility. Moench also has concerns about pharmaceuticals, plastics and dioxins making their way into the lake’s dust.”
