The Sick Times talks Utah’s air pollution problem
The Sick Times talked to UPHE’s Dr. Brian Moench about all things Utah environmental. They covered a previous legislative effort to ban masks, which UPHE helped to have removed from the bill after raising awareness about how it could endanger residents trying to protect themselves from Utah’s poor air quality.
“It’s the most fundamental freedom one could think of — altering your behavior to protect your own health,” Brian Moench told The Sick Times.
The article also draws the connection to impacts of the climate crisis, which is severely worsening wildfires, and wildfire smoke. Wood smoke is one of the most hazardous types of pollution a person breathes because it carries carcinogens, ultra-fine particles, and toxic compounds like benzene and formaldehyde. These pollutants can trigger heart attacks, worsen asthma, damage children’s lungs, and even shorten lives.
“As the climate crisis continues to accelerate and we keep burning even more and more fossil fuels, then the right to wear masks becomes an even greater imperative, and any prohibition on that right becomes even more of an outrage.”
N95s and P100 respirators protect against both airborne diseases and pollutants such as wildfire smoke, dust, and toxic gases. Climate change intensifies these threats by lengthening wildfire seasons, worsening drought and dust storms, and stirring up allergens and dormant pathogens like Coccidioides, which causes Valley Fever.
If our government isn’t going to take action to protect the people from environmental health hazards, they at the very least should not limit our ability to protect ourselves.