Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment are quoted in the news release as saying,
"Wasatch Front soil shows significant contamination with toxic heavy metals, including high concentrations of uranium and arsenic. Crystalline silica, which is ubiquitous in gravel pit dust, causes destruction of lung tissue, and can lead to lung cancer and increased susceptibility to tuberculosis.".
Parkin worries about these health risks:
Silicosis, for example, is well-documented to harm the most vulnerable, this includes babies in utero. A lot of women in Utah County are in their childbearing years and are negatively impacted by poor air quality.
Faraclas says she was actually diagnosed this past fall with lung cancer, which required aggressive medical intervention.
Dyches also says she battles environmentally-triggered asthma that requires her to always carry a inhaler.
She added that she was shocked to learn from her doctor that, “I probably developed asthma from breathing Utah’s polluted air throughout my childhood when my lungs were developing.”
The moms say they do not want their children, or anyone's child, to ever suffer as they have so they are "committed to doing everything they can to fight to clean-up Utah's dirty air, starting right in Lehi," the release said.
###
21