Annie Knox(Utah News Dispatch) When the Great Salt Lake dropped to a historic low in 2022, Utahns wanted answers about the dust on its exposed lakebed: Was it bad for their health? Although Utah has long monitored air quality, it needed to enhance its system to find out how much dust is reaching communities and exactly what’s in it. “I’ve made it very clear that this is a priority for me, as well as the governor, to get people the information they need about Great Salt Lake Lake dust, because there are concerns and we need to get them good data.” The Great Salt Lake has receded enough to expose 800 square miles of its lake bed, but most of the surface is crusted with salt-studded clay. The Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah intends to study in coming months whether lake dust raises the risk of blood cancers, blood clots and other blood disorders.