THE DIRT: Air Quality Concerns

Take a deep breath. Notice anything? Perhaps that breath tasted resinous like the fir you cut in June. Was it more of a feeling? Itchy-burning making you sneeze, cough and water at the eyes. Your last batch of festive sugar cookies got too “crispy”. Or maybe tendrils of your neighbors’ chimney smoke infiltrated crevices in your home allowing outdoor air unwanted access. We often take air quality for granted; it is usually unseen, unscented, and fills our lungs to contentment—until it is making us sick. The quality of our air is a graded thing, one we do not control completely but can affect with forethought or oversight. 

Short term symptoms of particulate matter exposure include dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and mild respiratory irritations. With repeated exposures, long-term effects can take root. Tissue damage and lung inflammation can lead to increased risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis. For people with preexisting respiratory disease, worsening symptoms may occur. We encounter these particles because our daily activities create them. Day-to-day errands in our cars on dusty roads, cooking, cleaning, firing up the woodstove, blowing dust, burning backyard waste, and uncontrolled industrial processes are all potential sources of exposure. 

One of the largest lead pollution events in US history started as an air quality incident. At the Bunker Hill lead smelter in 1973, fire broke out in the baghouses and destroyed its air pollution controls. A business decision to bypass damaged filters became the tragedy and hassle of the current Superfund site. Particles of lead and other toxins released into the air caused irrevocable damage to the health of individuals. Pollution did not remain airborne, and the secondary impact was the contamination of soil and water. 

Improving air quality requires each of us to do our part. Utilize the air curtain incinerator at the Shoshone County Transfer Station. It is free for county residents! To reduce smoke, drop off your yard trimmings or slash, instead of burning at home. To improve indoor air quality, employ filters to clean the air. Increase filter effectiveness by weatherizing your home where you are able. Be sure to burn clean, dry wood with good technique in woodstoves. Clean floors and dust regularly. Smoke outside. If the air outside is better than indoors, open windows. Cleaning up outdoor air is not as simple as indoor solutions; it is an exercise of developing and practicing good habits that limit the number of particles and toxins released into the atmosphere around us. In general, source control is the best solution. 

The Dirt is a series of informative articles focused on all aspects of cleanup efforts associated with the Bunker Hill Superfund Site. Our goal is to promote community awareness of contamination issues, to provide tools for protecting public health, and to keep the community informed of current and future cleanup projects. The Dirt is a group of committed and local experts from multiple agencies including the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, Panhandle Health District, Shoshone County, Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation, and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.