Mackerel shunned as cause of fine dust
Boxes of mackerel piled up during an auction at Garak Market, southeastern Seoul, Monday. The price of mackerel has plunged since the government’s announcement last week that frying mackerel at home creates a highly harmful level of fine dust particulates. / Yonhap
Fishermen dispute links between cooking and pollution
By Kim Se-jeong
The family of Lee Kyung-soon, 51, a Seoul resident, loves mackerel. For her son, she used to grill the fish three times a week. Even now when her son is in the military, she still grills it at least once a week.
But now she thinks twice before buying the fish.
“After the news last week, I am not sure if grilling fish at home is safe,” Lee said.
The news refers to the Ministry of Environment’s May 23 report that frying mackerel was the worst indoor cause of housing air pollution, generating a harmful level of fine dust particulates when cooked without proper ventilation.
Lee is one of a growing number of consumers driving the price of the fish down in markets.
At Garak Market in southeastern Seoul, Monday, a 10-kilogram box of small mackerel was auctioned off at 12,000 won, down from 40,000 won a week earlier.
Fishermen have expressed their frustration to the ministry.
Large Purse-Seines Fisheries Cooperative, a Busan-based group representing the interests of fishermen, released a statement last week denouncing the government’s announcement.
“There are more than 3,000 people directly engaged in mackerel-related businesses, including over 1,000 fishermen catching the fish and 2,000 vendors,” the statement said. “The ministry’s announcement threatens their livelihoods.”
Representatives from the cooperative are scheduled to meet with ministry officials, Tuesday.
“We want to hear an answer from the ministry on how to help us recuperate the loss,” Choi Joon-min, a representative of the cooperative, told The Korea Times.
According to the ministry, grilling mackerel generates 2,290 micrograms of particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) per cubic meter when cooked without ventilation.
Grilling pork and fried eggs and rice followed, all generating fine dust levels above 50 micrograms per day, the level at which the government issues an ultrafine dust advisory.
The ministry said the concentration would be alleviated significantly by opening a window, but that explanation has not calmed consumers.
The announcement came when public attention on air pollution is high, with fine dust advisories continuing and the government preparing comprehensive measures to improve air quality.
A separate report from the United Nations Environmental Program also said indoor activities are a major source of air pollution.
According to the report, “Healthy Environment, Healthy People,” 4.3 million people die of indoor air pollution from cooking every year. The figure accounts for more than half of the 7 million who die each year because of daily exposure to poor air quality.
The World Health Organization also said particulates can be deadly because they can penetrate into the bloodstream and lungs without being filtered.
According to Prof. Kim Ho from the Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health, suggestive evidence was found that long-term exposure to air pollutants, including PM 10, can cause cardiovascular disease. His finding was published in the latest issue of Science of the Total Environment, an international journal.