Air quality issues affect everyone

By Michelle Marine

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In 2006, our family moved to my husband's hometown of Wilton in Muscatine County. We chose to return to Iowa and live a rural life for a variety of reasons, one being for an overall healthier lifestyle.

I was saddened to learn that the air quality in Iowa is sometimes worse than in the big cities where we previously lived. I became interested in this issue after realizing how badly the air smells in Wilton some days. I researched the issue when Healthy Child, Healthy World (a non-profit organization inspiring parents to protect their children from harmful chemicals) asked for bloggers to comment on air quality. I recently started blogging, so I decided to take on Healthy Child, Healthy World's challenge.

I was shocked at what I learned. According to Midwest Energy News, Muscatine County had higher levels of particulate matter (a hazardous air pollutant) than any other county in Iowa in 2010 and “registered 19 episodes that exceeded federal standards for smaller particulate matter” (www.midwestener

gynews.com/2011/03/29/muscatine-iowa-epa-air-quality-solution-is-elusive/). Many of our friends and neighbors suffer from air-pollution related illnesses, including one that physicians have come to call the “Muscatine Crud.”

The Environmental Protection Agency says poor air quality can lead to a variety of health issues including respiratory disease, heart disease, asthma and cancer (www.epa.gov/eogapti1/course422/ap7a.html). Children, the elderly and people with respiratory illnesses such as asthma are most susceptible. This is a serious public health issue for Muscatine County.

Despite restrictions in the federal Clean Air Act that required fossil fuel facilities to install modern emission controls, many plants continue to operate without proper equipment.

However, the EPA has devised a set of important rules to reduce air pollution. Two of the most significant include the proposed Clean Air Transport Rule, which would reduce power plant emissions, and a court-ordered hazardous air pollutants (HAP) rule that aims to reduce acid gases and toxics, such as mercury (www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-stavins/an-opportunity-for-timely_b_853331.html).

I ask fellow Muscatine County residents, and all Iowans, to call on the EPA to enforce these new standards to protect the health of millions of Americans.

Do what you can to make our beautiful state a clean, healthy place to live.

Michelle Marine of Wilton, married with four children, teaches online community college composition classes and blogs at www.simplifylivelove.blogspot.com/. Comments: mdmarine@netwtc.net.