Research shows school absences rise with air pollution

New research has documented a direct correlation between absenteeism among Salt Lake City school students and air pollution levels, even at times when air quality is not particularly bad.An interdisciplinary team led by University of Utah atmospheric scientist Daniel Mendoza examined three years worth of absence data from 36 schools, comparing it with ambient levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, and ozone recorded by a network of sensors set up around the city and mounted on TRAX trains.