I’m still resentful about decades of breathing second-hand smoke. And sad about early deaths due to tobacco use. My grandfather chain-smoked unfiltered Old Golds. His two-pack-a-day habit probably contributed to his fatal heart attack shortly before I was born. My fourth-grade teacher, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. I bet everyone knows someone negatively impacted by tobacco.

Still, like many teenagers, I occasionally tried a cigarette, captivated by the romance found in the advertisements and movies of the day portraying smokers as glamorous or ruggedly masculine. It was all a toxic illusion. Nicotine is just as addictive as heroin or cocaine. I remember a former girlfriend who couldn’t wait to light up each morning. Once the nicotinic receptors released the dopamine into her brain, her young face glowed with some little slice of chemical heaven. I can see why people find it impossible to quit, in part because “the risk factors for the onset of smoking and subsequent tobacco addiction are both genetic and environmental,” according to The New England Journal of Medicine. Fortunately, smoking did nothing but make me unpleasantly dizzy.

So I dodged that health impact, but after moving to Utah decades ago I was dismayed to learn that this bastion of clean living was home to dirty air. Most concerning was that exposure to air pollution shortens a person’s life expectancy, just like cigarettes.

Researchers know this because both smoking and air pollution increase levels of inflammatory biomarkers in the blood. Specifically, exposure to pollution contributes to “systemic inflammation leading to small artery narrowing that enhances clotting mechanisms,” and that “within minutes of exposure to air pollution average blood pressure increases,” according to Dr. Brian Moench, MD, a contributor to my 2020 book “Utah’s Air Quality Issues: Problems and Solutions.”

What are the main pollutants? There are two in Utah to be concerned about. The first is fine particulate pollution (PM2.5), which in summer is caused by wildfires. Weeks ago, every breath here seemed like inhaling a cigarette. Wood smoke, whether from wildfires, campfires, or wood stoves “is generally the most toxic type of pollution the average person ever inhales,” according to Dr. Moench. Unfortunately, there’s no “non-smoking” option if you’re outside. It’s also worth noting that PM2.5 particles, which are 30 times finer than a human hair, easily seep into homes and apartments, so you’re not necessarily safer inside.

Historically, when the dreaded winter inversion sets up, PM2.5 is at its worst. Short for thermal inversion, when cold air gets trapped beneath a layer of warm air, inversions are naturally occurring phenomena. But the PM2.5 pollution found in inversions is human caused. Burning combustible fuels such as wood, diesel, coal, gasoline, and natural gas, along with the release of other pollutants into the atmosphere contributes to PM2.5 pollution. It’s worth remembering that new proposed data centers here in Utah will burn natural gas, further degrading air quality. Without a storm to break up inversions, PM2.5 generally worsens every day. It’s analogous to sitting in an unventilated room full of smokers, and with each passing day the amount of smoke thickens, becoming even more intolerable.

The second type of pollutant commonly measured is ozone (O3), not to be confused with the good ozone in the upper atmosphere, which shields the Earth from harmful levels of UV radiation. In summer, when ozone combines with other pollutants, it creates brownish smog. Ozone pollution exposure causes all the same poor health outcomes as PM2.5 exposure, including inflammation of the respiratory system.

For me, grasping the health impact of bad air was a dizzying realization, and any reader who suffers from asthma, or gets sinus or lung illnesses during periods of pollution, knows these findings are not speculative. There are worse complications, such as strokes, heart attacks and premature births.

What to do? First, become aware of pollution levels. When your area hits “Yellow” and “Orange” levels, the health impacts are particularly acute. Check air quality conditions before spending time outdoors. Go to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality website (air.utah.gov) or use the Utah Air app to track current pollution levels at various locations, including Ogden, Davis County, Salt Lake City, Orem, and elsewhere. Download this app for free from the App Store.

Second, remember that there’s no “safe” level of air pollution, despite wording that suggests air pollution on the “Orange” days is “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” only. The federal Environmental Protection Agency manages this language, which seems like an insult to anyone who feels crappy on an “Orange” air day, as if they’re wimpy and not tough enough to “hold their liquor,” except in this case it’s toxic air pollution, not cheap whiskey in a frontier-era saloon.

Third, long-term, vote for politicians who support clean air. Near-term, protect yourself by ensuring you have high-quality filters for home HVAC systems. Consider placing portable air purifiers with HEPA filters in bedrooms.

Daily exposure to bad air, whether during periods of wildfire smoke, summer smog, or winter inversions, can result in health impacts equivalent to cigarette smoking — but along the Wasatch Front, unfortunately, there’s not even a “non-smoking” section.

Hal Crimmel is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of English who served for nine years as chair of the English department at Weber State University. This commentary is provided through a partnership with Weber State. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent the institutional values or positions of the university.