By Kelly Roy King
The haze that covers Utah County isn’t as bad as it may seem, or is it?
While Salt Lake County air quality is nearing the unhealthy mark this week, Utah County air has remained within the EPA standards, said Art King, environmental scientist at the Department of Environmental Quality.
Differences in air quality readings between Salt Lake and Utah may be due to a wind from the south and a smaller population, said Kent Bott, DEQ environmental scientist.
The Utah State Department of Environmental Quality issued a health advisory for Utah county advising that elderly persons, children, and people with heart and respiratory problems should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities during the afternoon hours, said Laura Vernon, public information officer for the department.
“People with heart and respiratory problems should take extra precaution and remain indoors or reduce outdoor activities,” Vernon said.
“Personally, I wouldn’t jog in this stuff,” Bott said. “I rode my bike to work but I won’t be riding home.”
The environmental quality department also issued a voluntary no drive day, Vernon said.
“We’re asking drivers to drive less, carpool, take mass transit and telecommute,” Vernon said. “We’re also asking people to mow the lawn in the evenings, fill up the gas tank in the late evening and plan your route, combining errands.”
Vernon also suggest that people delay errands that can be done another day.
“Keep car motors tuned and the tires inflated,” Vernon said. “Turn off the engine while stuck in traffic.”
Currently, Utah doesn’t have a regulatory requirement to force people out of their cars, Bott said.
“We’ve asked the general public and industry to reduce pollution for the good of all the people,” Bott said.
The haze covering Utah County may look bad due to light scattering, Bott said.
“Right now the sky looks white because the light is being scattered by fine particles in the air,” Bott said.
Many of those particles come from the fires burning across the valley, Bott said.
The air quality in Utah County has decreased from .115 parts per million of ozone particles on Saturday, July 27, to .067 parts per million on Tuesday, August 1, King said.
Although ozone particles help shield the earth from ultraviolet rays, they can be irritating to the lungs, King said.
As the ozone level approaches .125 parts per million, can produce eye irritation and asthma, King said.
Returning from a trip Wednesday, August 2, economic professor and air quality researcher Dr. Arden Pope said he could see the difference in air quality.
“When if flew in I was startled because we had beautiful air until we reached the Wasatch front,” Pope said. “There’s obviously a lot of pollutants here in the valley.”
The particles that are big enough to scatter light cause the most harm to your lungs, Pope said.
