SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Poor air quality is unhealthy for everyone, which is why the Utah Clean Air Partnership is working to raise awareness of what it could do to our health – and the changes we need to make.

Air pollutants can especially be felt – and seen – during the winter months when high pressure can put a warm air lid on the cold air in the Salt Lake Valley, trapping a variety of pollutants.

Dr. Liz Joy with Intermountain Healthcare joined KSL TV on Tuesday to discuss the risks of breathing the pollutants that get trapped in the winter inversion.

“What gets trapped under that lid of warm air is all the pollutants from where we live,” she said. “That includes a lot of particulate pollution that comes from tailpipes from our cars, but also other pollutants that come from our business, our homes and things like that.”

That pollution, filled with particulate matter small enough to enter the lungs and get into the bloodstream, is pumped into the air we breathe.

Joy said the people most at risk are those with underlying health conditions – such as heart or lung disease or those who have had a stroke. However, she noted that children and pregnant women are also at a high risk for negative health effects due to poor air quality.

With the majority of the pollution coming from tailpipes, Joy said one of the best things people can do is to decrease the amount of driving they do.