Why am I so sick?

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been in contact with several residents reporting environmental issues who live in Carbon County. A common theme for why they are reaching out is their concern about air and water quality and the impacts on their family's health given that they are faced with chronic illness. Chronic illnesses like asthma, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are surprisingly common for such a beautiful, rural place. When I took a closer look, I realized that our small county has the 13th highest rate of cancer across 67 Pennsylvania counties! (https://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov). I then looked at the Environmental Health Indicators Map provided by the Commonwealth and realized that what we breathe, drink, and eat makes a BIG difference to our health and that we need to share our concerns with our doctors. Living in an area that has chronically high PurpleAir monitor readings (poor air quality) is akin to smoking cigarettes. You don't need to smoke to be impacted by poor air quality. For example, Pennsylvania is a geologic area for radon, which is the number one cause of lung cancer amongst non-smokers (https://www.epa.gov/radon/health-risk-radon). The good news is home radon mitigation systems exist and are inexpensive to install and maintain. Please take a look at the resources in this blog, visit purpleair.com for an updated view of the air quality in your area, and share with your friends and neighbors. Our health is too important to take for granted! Environmental Health Indicators (EHI) Map | Department of Health | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania