After the London smog which struck down people over 4,000 for five days in September 1952 and the worst air pollution incident, now fine dust becomes comparable to London smog. It is so serious that poor air quality caused more than 17,000 deaths in South Korea in 2017, more than 90 percent of which related to the onslaught of harmful PM2.5 particles. Not only our health but also the economy of Korea is affected by fine dust. For instance, semiconductors and electronic industries are sensitive even though little concentration of particles about 300 micrograms can increase fraction defective. At present, particulate matter is related to our all life and quite bad for our surroundings.

▲ Before and after fine dust pictures in Seoul

Fine dust stands for the dust that its diameter is 2.5 micrometers sequences. It is also known as the most harmful dust because its size is so small that it cannot be filtered out with the respiratory system. Generally, it is artificial because it consists of carbon compounds, elements, and other ion ingredients. Particulate matter gives very unhealthy problems to us such as headache and dizziness, skin and eye disease. Moreover, it penetrates inside of our body deeply, passes by organ wall and finally soaks up into vessels. This is known to cause stroke, heart disease or cardiovascular problem. It also influences bad effects on your cognitive and memory. According to the research, it causes wide intelligence decline, dementia, and depression. Not associating with cognitive decline due to aging, adolescents also can be a victim, and in the future, naturally, we could see a lot of young dementia patients.

▲ What affect the fine dust causes?

Then, how people appreciate fine dust? According to the public awareness survey, 90 percent of people feel uncomfortable due to the fine dust, and they usually get information by applications or news and newspaper. Also, people chose that the biggest factor of the occurrence of fine dust is because of the surrounding countries such as China. So, they pointed out countermeasure that we should progress joint research with China.

▲ Reddish China

Particulate matter problem is a national matter. We should cooperate with near countries and find out proper solutions.

April 28th, 2019

by Kim Dae-Hwan