If you are seeing this message, you are likely using an older browser to view this site. This website's content is fully accessible to all browsers, however the web site will look much better and your experience will be much more enjoyable if you upgrade your browser to a more current version. Please visit this web site to upgrade your browser.
In dry areas like Utah, windblown dust maybe a significant air pollution problem. From spring through fall, unusually high winds can combine with dry surface conditions to result in dust storms. These dust storms can lead to extremely high levels of particulate matter in the air. Much of this PM is small enough to be considered harmful to human health.
Windblown dust can be neither completely controlled nor avoided. Under air pollution laws, most windblown dust storms are considered “natural events” which are regulated differently than other sources of air pollution.
Short-term exposures to PM (hours or days) can aggravate lung disease, causing asthma attacks and acute bronchitis, and may also increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. In people with heart disease, short-term exposures have been linked to heart attacks and arrhythmias. Click here to learn more about the health impacts of PM.
The following will help you understand how to minimize your exposure to PM. Anyone exposed to particulate matter can suffer health effects. However, the people most likely to experience health problems are the young, the elderly, and those sensitive individuals with respiratory conditions.