At the Salton Sea, uncovering the culprit of lung disease
… Something in the environment — in the water, the land, the air, or all three — appears to be making people in the region sick with a respiratory disease that presents like asthma. … And although residents of the area have long believed the Salton Sea to be toxic, … researchers at UC Riverside are only now beginning to zero in on a culprit. And it’s one that nobody expected. The Salton Sea, the largest lake in California by surface area, has been drying up in recent years, the result of drought and water management decisions on the Colorado River and in the Imperial and Coachella valleys, whose agricultural runoff feeds the lake. … Scientists have long understood there to be a connection between the dust and the region’s poor respiratory health. But after years of research, recent findings have offered surprising new insights: The prime suspect now is a naturally occurring toxin, embedded in the dust. The discovery holds far-ranging implications — not only for the Salton Sea, but for other drying lake systems around the world.