Diamond Bar : Dust Particles’ Health Effects to Be Studied

Researchers based in Diamond Bar are trying to determine whether naturally occurring dust particles in the air pose as great a health hazard as smog.

Last week, the South Coast Air Quality Management District approved a $200,000 study to determine if high desert dust levels in the Coachella Valley correspond with an increase in heart- and lung-related hospital and emergency room visits.

The study is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and results may suggest regulatory options for officials trying to determine how best to protect people from airborne pollution--especially particles in a category known as PM-10.

The term designates pollution particles less than 10 microns in diameter--a fraction of the width of a human hair. Studies have shown, according to AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood, that “there is a shortened life span associated particularly with this particulate pollution.”

Inhaled dust particles can lodge in the lungs and have been linked to various lung diseases, Atwood said, leading to premature death, particularly among the elderly. Researchers chose the Coachella Valley not only for the high amounts of dust that swirl in its air, but also for its large number of senior citizens.