As if poor air quality wasn’t linked to enough health concerns ranging from increased risk of heart attack, stroke, asthma to premature birth, University of Utah scientists are raising another red flag: Bad air could increase the risk of miscarriage.

A new University of Utah Health Sciences study shows women living along the Wasatch Front had a 16 percent greater chance of miscarriage following short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollution.

It’s a reason to take precautions during winter months when inversion traps harmful air particles along the Wasatch Front. It’s also one more reason for the state to aggressively prioritize cleaning the air.

Since August, the Deseret News has been expanding the conversation around air pollution and exploring practical methods to reduce harmful pollutants at home. The initiative took InDepth reporter Erica Evans and photographer Spenser Heaps to Oslo, Norway, where residents there battle some of the same winter inversion effects Utahns experience. It proved an informative exercise in looking elsewhere to glean best practices and discern what may or may not work in Utah.

Evans also took on the challenge of going a week without a car in Salt Lake City, an experience that highlighted the benefits and shortcomings in local transit solutions.

All told, the first and most important takeaway is for the state to act swiftly if it is serious about the health of its residents. That could mean any number of actions, including tolls on the I-15 corridor during peak traffic times, incentivizing private businesses to innovate cleaner technology, increasing access to mass transit options or ratcheting up emissions standards.

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Effective solutions will likely combine the best of the above and more as leaders give thoughtful consideration to finding the best way forward. Next week, the final piece in the Deseret News Pollution Solution series will evaluate how the Legislature has historically addressed air quality issues and what may prevent it from acting more quickly in the future.

Utah has made good progress over the years. Gov. Gary Herbert reported in a recent combined KSL/Deseret News editorial board meeting that statewide emissions fell by 38 percent overall between 2002 and 2017, despite a 34 percent increase in the state’s population. That means Utahns are more conscious of their actions and technology has improved. The governor also dedicated $100 million in his budget proposal to cleaning the air. It’s a positive long-term trend, but vulnerable populations in the meantime are still at risk the second another inversion sets in.

These people should take necessary steps to mitigate dirty air’s impact. The elderly and those with asthma and other health concerns should continue to consult with health care providers on the best way to diminish the effects of pollution.

Utah’s air problem is decades old and has no single solution, but opening the conversation will bring forward the best of ideas, wherever they are found. It shouldn’t take another study for everyone to do what they can to promote a safe and healthy Utah.

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