Gaylia Tanner
Several years ago I heard a well know Utah physician give a lecture on the poor quality of our air. He described particulates in the air that are so small we are not able to see or feel them, but the damage they do when they reach our lungs is very real. In the Sunday, August 18, addition of my paper I learned this very Doctor has now become the victim of this serious public health hazard he has been lecturing and writing about for the past 12 years.
Each year as parents and adults we focus on all of the needs of our student as we get them ready for another year at school. I know I was always focused on getting them outfitted with their favorite clothes. In our daughters public school years, a couple of times, it was a new school and neighborhood. This meant a new school and many new friends. When they were growing up in the late sixties and seventies we were focused on many other issues and less on the environment.
Today the environment has become a very important matter because we are finally realizing all of the ill effects poor air quality has on the human body. It has even greater effects on young children and infants. Here is some information by authors Philip J. Landrigan and Mary M. Landrigan from their book, "Children and Environmental Toxins," dated 2018.
"Exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution can have an immediate effect on a child, causing wheezing and shortness of breath in children without asthma and causing increased frequency and severity of asthma attacks in children who already have asthma. Air pollution can also cause bronchitis and pneumonia. The results is an increased number of absences and hospitalization."
Schools are trying to limit the time outdoors when the air quality is particularly bad, even the other day the air from the wild fires was not safe for students. Try to improve the air in your home by eliminating cigarette smoke, reduce poor ventilation in household stoves, furnaces and fireplaces. Limit idling your car when you drop off or pick up your students from school. Many of our legislators are beginning to talk more about cleaning up the air in our state. Reach out to your State Representative and Senator and ask them where they stand on issues of cleaner the air in our state.