Dirty skies and your health

| Jolayne Houtz
Photo of downtown seattle and interstate 5 with heavy traffic.  A haze of pollution obscures the buildings of downtown.

The United States must continue to lead the world in making cars worthy of our 21st-century challenges.

DEOHS Chair Michael Yost says proposed rollback of vehicle emission standards threatens public health

We’re learning more all the time about the health risks of breathing dirty air—and the news is alarming.

Headshot of Micheal Yost on a dark background
Michael Yost, DEOHS professor and chair.

Yet decades of progress to reduce air pollution could be at risk under a new Trump administration proposal to roll back emissions and fuel efficiency standards, writes Michael Yost in a new Seattle Times op-ed. Yost is professor and chair of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

“Take a deep breath. Picture your nose, throat and lungs filtering the air and extracting vital oxygen before your heart pumps the oxygen-rich blood to each organ in your body.

Now imagine filling your lungs with air that includes diesel exhaust and tiny pollution particles called PM2.5 that are about 1/30th the width of a human hair.

If the Trump administration has its way, the air you breathe is about to get dirtier, filled with these tiny particles that already kill at least 1,100 Washingtonians each year.”

Read his Seattle Times op-ed here.





Newsletter

Environmental health news delivered to your inbox monthly: