Health Impact Research

Relevant News Articles

A STATISTICAL LOOK AT UTAH’S 500 CORONAVIRUS DEATHS
Larsen, A. (2020, October 8). A statistical look at Utah’s 500 coronavirus deaths. The Salt Lake Tribune. https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/10/08/statistical-look-utahs/

HOW SCIENTISTS ARE COPING WITH ‘ECOLOGICAL GRIEF’
Vince, G. (2020, January 12). How scientists are coping with ‘ecological grief.’ The Guardian. https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/12/how-scientists-are-coping-with-environmental-grief

ACTIVISTS HAIL MASSACHUSETTS LAW AS CRUCIAL STEP ON ENVIORNMENTAL JUSTICE
Rosa-Aquino, P. (2021, April 6). Activists hail Massachusetts law as crucial step on environmental justice. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/02/massachusetts-law-environmental-justice

Climate Change and Health

CLIMATE EFFECTS ON HEALTH
CDC “Climate Effects on Health”, https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/default.htm

WILDFIRES, GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, AND HUMAN HEALTH
Xu et al. Wildfires, Global Climate Change, and Human Health. N Engl J Med. 2020 Nov 26;383(22):2173-2181. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr2028985

Climate change, air pollution, and COVID impacts on Navajo communities

FOR GREATER CHACO COMMUNITIES, AIR POLLUTION COMPOUNDS COVID-19 THREAT
Chamberlain, K. C. (2020, April 15). For Greater Chaco communities, air pollution compounds COVID-19 threat. The NM Political Report. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2020/04/15/for-greater-chaco-communities-air-pollution-compounds-covid-19-threat/

Health Effects of Air Pollution Exposure

Health of the Air Report 2019 for SLC

Local UT research regarding health effects of air pollution exposure

SHORT-TERM AIR POLLUTION AND INCIDENT PNEMONIA
Pirozzi CS, Jones BE, VanDerslice JA, Zhang Y, Paine R, Dean NC. Short-term air pollution and incident pneumonia. A case-crossover study. Ann Am Thorac Soc 2018;15:449-459. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29283681)

ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE EVENTS TRIGGERED BY SHORT-TERM EXPOSURE TO FINE PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION
Pope CA III, Muhlestein JB, May HT, Renlund DG, Anderson JL, Horne BD. Ischemic heart disease events triggered by short-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. Circulation 2006;114:2443-2448. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17101851)

SHORT-TERM ELEVATION OF FINE PARTICULATE MATTER AIR POLLUTION AND ACUTE LOWER RESPIRATORY INFECTION
Horne BD, Joy EA, Hofmann MG, Gesteland PH, Cannon JB, Lefler JS, Blagev DP, Korgenski EK, Torosyan N, Hansen GI, Kartchner D, Pope CA III. Short-term elevation of fine particulate matter air pollution and acute lower respiratory infection. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2018;198:759-766. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29652174)

SHORT-TERM EXPOSURE TO FIND PARTICULATE MATTER AIR POLLUTION IS PREFERENTIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE RISK OF ST-SEGMENT ELEVATION ACUTE CORONARY EVENTS
Pope CA III, Muhlestein JB, Anderson JL, Cannon JB, Hales NM, Meredith KG, Le V, Horne BD. Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution is preferentially associated with the risk of ST-segment elevation acute coronary events. J Am Heart Assoc 2015;4:e002506. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26645834)

RELATION OF HEART FAILURE HOSPITILIZATION TO EXPOSURE TO FINE PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION
Pope CA III, Renlund DG, Kfoury AG, May HT, Horne BD. Relation of heart failure hospitalization to exposure to fine particulate air pollution. Am J Cardiol 2008;102:1230-1234. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18940298)

ACUTE AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE AND RISK OF SUICIDE COMPLETION
Bakian AV, Huber RS, Coon H, Gray D, Wilson P, McMahon WM, Renshaw PF. Acute air pollution exposure and risk of suicide completion. Am J Epidemiol 2015;181:295-303. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25673816)

IMPACT OF LOW-LEVEL FINE PARTICULATE MATTER AND OZONE EXPOSURE ON ABSENCES IN K-12 STUDENTS AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
Daniel L Mendoza, Cheryl S Pirozzi, Erik T Crosman, Theodore G Liou, Yue Zhang, Jessica J Cleeves, Stephen C Bannister, William R L Anderegg and Robert Paine III (2020). Impact of low-level fine particulate matter and ozone exposure on absences in K-12 students and economic consequences. Environmental Research Letters, 15, 114052.

Impact of climate change on Native populations

The Shiprock area is particularly susceptible to ambient air pollution because its geography leads to atmospheric thermal inversions (like Salt Lake valley) and there are two large mine-mouth coal-fired power plants in the vicinity which are exempt from regulation under the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act due to their age. In 1957, the Navajo tribe and Utah International Inc. signed a contract for the mining of coal on the reservation.  The Four Corners Power Plant and San Juan Generating Station together are the second largest consumer of coal in the country. The coal mines are leased from the Navajo Nation and in exchange BHP is required to provide coal for domestic use free of charge to Navajos living near the mine.

-Cheryl Pirozzi, MD