Toxic dust storms from the dried, exposed Great Salt Lake bed disproportionately poisons the air in Utah neighborhoods with higher levels of Hispanic and Pacific Islander populations, new research finds.
The disparity between their average exposure and those of white populations will grow as the lake dries further.
The most exposed group to particulate matter would see levels about 16% higher than the lowest if the lake fully dried. The peer-reviewed paper is the first to find people of color are most affected by the toxic effects of the drying lake, and that the situation has an environmental justice layer, said Sara Grineski, a University of Utah researcher and lead author.
“While all nearby residents face unhealthy dust exposures, findings reveal exposure disparities for socially disadvantaged groups,” the study states. “Letting the lake desiccate would amplify existing environmental inequities.”
The Great Salt Lake had been quickly drying, having lost 73% of its water and 60% of its surface area by early last year, though it benefited from recent heavy snowfall. Diversion is the main culprit: trillions of liters of upstream water are siphoned to supply agricultural operations, mining interests and homes. Climate change is also thought to play a smaller role.
About 2.4 million people, or approximately 80% of Utah’s population, live near the lake. The study focused on particulate matter, or PM2.5, a substance that is among the most common and well-studied air pollutants, and is linked to cancer, respiratory ailments and circulatory disease.
There is no safe level of exposure to PM2.5, and it is thought to be responsible for 50,000 premature US deaths annually. In California, researchers documented excess respiratory deaths due to PM2.5 exposure in the decades during and after the Salton Sea dried. Arsenic, lead and other toxins also in the Great Salt Lake bed present a threat, but the paper focused on PM2.5.
While researchers found a link between exposure levels and race and education, it did not find a correlation with income.
Researchers first took PM2.5 readings from high wind events that caused dust storms in April 2022 and identified which areas and populations had the highest exposure levels. During the dust storms, residents were exposed to 25.7 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) of PM2.5, on average. The EPA just lowered its statutory limit to 9 μg/m3.
But Hispanic residents and Pacific Islanders saw exposure levels 1-2 points higher on average. As the lake dries, that gap increases – about 5.3 points more for Pacific Islanders, and more than 3 points for Hispanics, compared with white residents.
Conversely, if the lake increases to a healthy level, then all the average exposures come down and the gap is nearly eliminated. Grineski called it the “environmental justice co-benefit” effect.
“If we can raise the level of the lake, there are all kinds of benefits we can accrue, and the additional one that we haven’t talked about before is closing that gap,” she added.
Minority populations suffering the impacts are likely not by chance. White people who initially moved to the area went to areas less affected by the wind, and areas that are more elevated, which provides protection, Grineski said.
“There’s a spatial overlap between where those people live and where we expect dust levels to be higher,” Grineski said.
There are some steps people can take to protect themselves, such as during windy days, wearing a mask, staying indoors and using Hepa filters in HVAC systems, Grineski said.
But the most meaningful solutions would have to come at the policy level. Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, who previously requested Utahns to pray to help alleviate the deep drought that gripped the west until this year, has suspended any new claims for water in the Great Salt Lake basin.
Meanwhile, Utah lawmakers in recent sessions have dedicated nearly a $1bn toward water conservation.
Earlier this year, environmental and conservation groups lambasted policymakers’ plan to preserve the lake. Though the plan acknowledges that diversion is driving the crisis, it doesn’t include binding measures to reduce water usage, and instead highlights “protections for water right holders”, Earthjustice noted. It and other groups filed suit against the state of Utah in September, asking a judge to order the state to take more meaningful steps.
“Public health needs to be protected now, not 30 years from now,” Brian Moench, president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, which is a co-plaintiff in the suit, previously said in a statement.
“If this is the best the state can do, it is an admission that it doesn’t really understand the public health consequences of letting the lake dry up.”
