Researchers say they’re getting closer to answers on Great Salt Lake dust

As the Great Salt Lake plunges back toward a historic low, key questions about the dust kicking up from the dry lake bed and its effects on human health remain unanswered. 

At a Monday forum focused on solutions for the dust, two researchers said they’re working toward providing more clarity. So did a state official, though he called it a “future issue.” 

At the University of Utah, dust scientists are trying to get a good picture of how much is blowing in from the lake in the first place, as opposed to other sources such as mining. 

Derek Mallia, a research assistant professor at the university, said he and his colleagues are working on modeling that will help them account for urban emissions and pinpoint which parts of the lake are sending up the most dust. They expect to share findings from a current project early next year, he told Utah News Dispatch. 

Then there are the questions of exactly what’s in the airborne dust, including the amounts of heavy metals like arsenic and lead, and whether they pose health risks to the 2.5 million people living along the Wasatch Front. It’s less clear when Utahns will get those answers. 

When it comes to arsenic, a carcinogen, “we know it’s in the sediment,” said Bryce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality. As for how much is lifting into the air and how far it’s traveling, the division has some early data shedding insight.  

“Our initial filters that we collected on high-wind days showed that it was basically below the detection level that our laboratory could detect,” Bird said at the Monday forum hosted by the Great Salt Lake Alliance. 

“We have other air pollution concerns that I think are more pressing to us, public health-wise, than the Great Salt Lake today,” Bird said at the event. “I think the Great Salt Lake is a future issue.” 

He noted that so far this year, the Salt Lake Valley has not exceeded the federal standard for coarse PM10 pollution, which is measured over a 24-hour window. 

“We’ve exceeded the ozone standard 19 times, and so probably the more pressing effort, or issue, for me as a regulator is focusing on ground-level ozone in our urban areas, is what is actually impacting public health today.” 

The division is working to stand up more dust monitors in northern Utah after a slow start on the project that frustrated academic researchers who called for better, more comprehensive monitoring. 

Most often, when lakes across the world dry up, “the result has been it’s become unlivable and people have moved away,” Bird said during the forum. “Of course, we don’t have that option here. We are planted here, our roots go deep, and we need to find ways to address it.”

Bird said the division plans to release information collected by the devices on a rolling basis, but it will be hard to interpret until the state determines how much of the metals are safe to breathe in a short period of time. 

There are federal standards for concentrations in soil, water, and in the air for workers cutting marble and concrete, but not for dust storms. So Utah is coming up with its own guidelines, convening environmental and public health officials to review research and coordinate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Bird did not have an estimate Monday for when the state guidelines would be finalized. 

Other research is ongoing. 

David Parrott, assistant director of Westminster University’s Great Salt Lake Institute, said he’s working with researchers examining microbes and heavy metals, and the effects of both on lung cells growing in culture. 

He said the multitude of research on the lake is encouraging and noted many others in the state, including lawmakers, are working on solutions to save it ahead of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City – now eight years away. 

“I think it’s great, but we just need to not lose momentum and say, ‘well, you know, the Olympics is 2034. We’ve got time for the lake,’” Parrott said. “We need to do it now.” 

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Courtesy of Utah News Dispatch