Study links disability risk with ozone exposure during pregnancy
A new study from the University of Utah found a strong link between pregnant mothers’ ozone exposures and increases in the chances the baby develops an intellectual disability.
The study, published last month in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, is a collaboration between the U of U’s College of Social & Behavioral Science and the School of Medicine. The study is based on an analysis of public health and air quality data compiled along the Wasatch Front.
In a statement, lead researcher Sara Grineski, a professor of sociology, said their findings for Utah suggest a troubling association and noted that this is just one study in a sea of papers documenting the harmful effects of air pollution on health. One of the key findings showed that the second trimester of pregnancy is the most critical period for ozone exposure, but exposures in all pregnancies stages correlated with elevated risk of intellectual disabilities.
The research team hopes their findings will encourage policymakers, public health officials and the public to prioritize air quality improvements.
Statue of Utah's first female senator unveiled in Washington, D.C.
A statute of Utah’s first female senator, Martha Hughes Cannon, was unveiled in Washington D.C. inside the National Statuary Hall yesterday (Wednesday).
Cannon was a physician, suffragette, and founded what became the Utah Department of Health. The statue of Cannon, approved by the Utah State Legislature in 2018, replaces the one of television inventor Philo Farnsworth. The replacement was delayed due to the pandemic.
There are 100 statues inside Statuary Hall, two representing each state. Cannon is the fourteenth woman to be featured there and her statue will stand next to one of Brigham Young.
