SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Wind-swept dust from the exposed lakebed of the Great Salt Lake disproportionately affects minority communities in Salt Lake City, new research from the University of Utah shows.
Published last month, the findings revealed exposure to the harmful dust is highest among Pacific Islander and Hispanic Utahns while lowest among white Utahns. Exposure was also higher among those without a high school diploma.
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The reason for this, researchers found, is because the airborne dust is more likely to fall along Salt Lake City’s lower-income neighborhoods, especially if drought and water usage lead to increased shrinking of the Great Salt Lake and more exposed lakebed.
“People here in Utah are concerned about the lake for a variety of reasons—the ski industry, the brine shrimp, the migratory birds, recreation—and this study adds environmental justice and the equity implications of the drying lake to the conversation,” said lead author Sara Grineski, a professor of sociology and environmental studies, in a news release…