SALT LAKE CITY — Doctors are on a mission to get free air purifiers in every classroom in Utah, and time is running out.
Utah Physicians For a Healthy Environment partnered with the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to distribute them through $90 million from the federal Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Reopening Schools Grant which was given to the state during COVID.
The deadline for schools and daycares to get them into classrooms is July 31st before that funding is cut off for the program.
“The amount of air pollution on the school bus on the way to school can affect how they're able to perform on the test that very same day,” said President of Utah Physicians For a Healthy Environment Dr. Brian Moench.
Dr. Moench said their idea for the program started after a surge in research came out about how poor air quality detrimentally impacts people’s brains and ways of thinking.
“It’s important that every, every child in the state has an opportunity to have the cleanest air possible in the school that they're attending,” he said.
He said the air purifiers can make a tremendous difference in students’ abilities in the classroom.
“There are hundreds of studies that have shown very clearly air pollution is a significant factor in brain development, brain function and student performance,” said Moench.
Dr. Moench said right now about 64% of schools in the state have used the program to get purifiers in their classrooms.
“This is, I think the most important Clean Air initiative in the state in the last 20 years,” he said, “And over that time frame, it may be one of the most important programs to improve school education in Utah as well.”
He’d like to get that number closer to 100% of schools by the deadline, saying parents, teachers and administrators all need to get on board.
“We’re reaching out to them on a daily basis, making phone calls to districts and schools administrators and so forth,” said Moench.
Dr. Sean Slack said he is grateful his son’s daycare and his first-grade daughter’s school, Emerson Elementary have already used the program.
“Nobody has to do really anything,” said Slack, “There's no extra tutoring, there's no extra work for parents, there's no extra work for the kids and yet everybody gets the benefit of it. So it's pretty profound.”
He said he frequently sees children impacted by pollution and inversion in his line of work.
“We see that in asthmatics and, you know, if a poor kid has to be in the ER instead of in the classroom, they're ultimately losing ground,” he said, “And so what we want to do is keep them in the classroom and I think the purifiers have shown that they can help do that in a safe way.”
Dr. Moench said there are millions of dollars left just waiting to be spent on purifiers in schools and daycare.
“It’s just something that should be done,” said Moench.
To make sure your school doesn’t miss out, visit their website here,or email brandi@uphe.org.
