How Harmful is Great Salt Lake Dust – School of Biological Sciences

Researchers from the University of Utah, including atmospheric scientist Kevin Perry and biologist Michael Werner, are attempting to get a handle on this question and the latest findings are concerning.

Sediments in the lake’s exposed playa are potentially more harmful than other major dust sources affecting the Wasatch Front’s air quality, according to a study published online recently in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

NBC News Dust researcher Kevin Perry poses with his fat bike and a PI-SWERL machine, which can measure wind erosion and dust emission. Photo credit: Evan Bush

“You’re talking about a very large dust source located next to a very large population, and you’ve got elevated levels of manganese, iron, copper and lead. Lead is a concern for developmental reasons,” said senior author Kerry Kelly, a professor of chemical engineering. “Manganese, iron and copper, these are transition metals and are known to be very irritating to your lungs. Once you get irritation, that can lead to this whole inflammatory response. And that’s part of the problem with particulate matter and it’s adverse health effects like asthma.”

Another recent study led by sociology professor Sara Grineski found dust from the lakebed disproportionately affects disadvantaged neighborhoods in Salt Lake County.

In a separate forthcoming study led by U biologist Michael Werner’s lab, another team of researchers characterized levels of toxic metals deposited in submerged lakebed sediments sampled during the lake’s record low-water year of 2021, noting how these levels have changed since the years of Utah’s mining era.

To conduct the published study, Kerry Kelly’s lab, which specializes in air quality, teamed up with researchers in the U’s College of Science. They examined previously collected sediment samples from the Great Salt Lake, comparing them with sediments from other dust sources in the Great Basin, namely Sevier Lake, Fish Springs Lake and West Desert in western Utah and Tule Lake in northeastern California. These places are known to contribute to dust pollution reaching Salt Lake City.

In recent years, co-author Kevin Perry, a professor of atmospheric sciences, has systematically gathered exposed lakebed sediments, logging hundreds of miles on a bike. His prior research has identified “hotspots” on the playa that appear to be enriched with potentially toxic elements.

As Utah’s Great Salt Lake shrinks, exposing more of its playa, concerns grow about the dust the dry lakebed emits. But scientists lack the data to fully understand what pollutants are present in these airborne sediments.