Utah Department of Environmental Quality

Sponsored by the Utah Department
of Environmental Quality

Did You Know?

Indoor Air Quality

Asthma afflicts about 20 million Americans, including 6.3 million children. Since 1980, the biggest growth in asthma cases has been in children under five. In 2000 there were nearly 2 million emergency room visits and nearly half a million hospitalizations due to asthma, at a cost of almost $2 billion, and causing 14 million school days missed each year.

Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, according to EPA estimates. Overall, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year. About 2,900 of these deaths occur among people who have never smoked.

Energy Conservation

If every American home replaced their 5 most frequently used light fixtures or the bulbs in them with ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save close to $8 billion each year in energy costs, and together we'd prevent the greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars.

Coal-burning power plants are the single largest source of human-caused mercury emissions in the United States, contributing more than 40%. Because CFLs use 75% less energy than the incandescent bulbs they replace, they help to reduce mercury emissions (i.e., they represent a net mercury emissions reduction). Sources: EPA -- http://www.epa.gov/mercury/about.htm, Mercury in Fluorescent Lamps: Analysis of Environmental Impacts and Policies, draft submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR program, October 30, 2006

Water Conservation

Utah is the second driest state receiving an average of only 13 inches of precipitation a year. Yet we consume about 293 gallons per person per day, over half of which is used to water lawns.