How does air quality, heat affect families? Utah researchers are seeking to learn more

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah researchers have, over the past few years, learned more about how Utah's outdoor environment is negatively affecting indoor air quality levels.

Now, the University of Utah is partnering with the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago to explore how those impacts — and extreme heat — affect the health and overall well-being of families in the Salt Lake City area.

The two entities held an event over the weekend, but are also seeking families to sign up online to be surveyed about day-to-day impacts or mental and physical health concerns tied to air quality, said Dr. Marie Heffernan, director of the Voices of Child Health in Chicago research program at Lurie Children's and an assistant professor at Northwestern University.

Their scope will also explore impacts of extreme heat, as that has been a major challenge this year.

"We're elevating the perspectives of real people and families in this work, and I think that's a really innovative part," she told KSL on Friday.

The program, Collaborative for Clean Air, is also expanding the scope of ongoing research to better understand the impacts of air quality in Utah. There's plenty of research on outdoor air quality, including health impacts, but University of Utah researchers started shifting their attention to indoor air quality over the past few years.

One study, published in 2024, found "concerning" levels of uranium, arsenic, lead and other compounds within a study of 100 homes across Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties.

The research also found other surprises, such as homes closer to large highways having higher amounts of aluminum and iron tied to brake wear from vehicles, said Daniel Mendoza, a professor of atmospheric sciences and internal medicine in the pulmonary division of the University of Utah.

However, that work hasn't really scratched the surface in how any of it affects the physical and mental health of people inside the home, especially children, researchers noted.

Some studies have linked higher crime rates during heat waves, among other impacts. This could look at those trends deeper in Utah, while also seeing if there's a connection to the state's higher suicide rate.

Utah's rate of 19.5 deaths by suicide per 100,000 residents was an improvement between 2023 and 2024, but it remains among the highest in the nation, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The forthcoming survey mostly responds to impacts that families had requested when researchers asked them what types of effects they believed should be studied further, Heffernan said.

"There are several studies that have looked at air quality really affecting mental health as a whole, but this is the first study being done in Utah that really will be looking at what are the potential effects — not just of air pollution, but also environmental exposures and extreme heat," Mendoza added.

Families didn't need to attend an event on Saturday to participate. The Collaborative for Clean Air research team set up a pair of sign-ups, one in English and another in Spanish, as it seeks to find at least 100 families to study.

Researchers say each family would go through a 10-15-minute interview, with a $20 Amazon gift card given to every family that completes the survey.

The team hopes to have conducted enough interviews and analyzed the data within the next year, so it can share those results as early as 2027. By then, its members might have something new to explore as researchers better understand the full impact of air quality concerns.

That could also lead to future policy changes, said Senate Minority Leader Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City.

"This is a serious medical crisis as well, not only environmental, but a serious medical crisis for many," she said. "When you look at the rates of children with asthma in that area, including my own child, you realize it is impacting people's lives."

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