Surviving fine dust

Fine dust deteriorates the visibility in downtown Seoul. / Yonhap

What is fine dust? How to protect yourself

By Kim Se-jeong

Fine dust hit the Korean Peninsula again early this week.

Sunday was particularly bad, with Seoul's daily average levels of Particulate Matter 2.5 reaching 103 micrograms per cubic meter, the worst since the government began monitoring levels in 2015.

With soaring PM 2.5 levels Saturday through Monday, the national government issued a special warning, banning driving for more than 500,000 government employees at the start of the week.

This year alone, the government has issued special warnings four times.

In January, the first warning kindled a national debate on what would be ideal measures to curb the pollutants.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon made all public transportation free during morning and evening commuting hours for two days to motivate people to take subways and buses, and made the case for a mandatory driving ban for all drivers, not just government employees.

But his initiative drew more criticism than support.

Critics claimed Park was being a populist politician trying to win votes, instead of being cautious with taxpayer money _ it was estimated that the free transportation cost the city 5 billion won.

Fine dust has become a routine seasonal issue.

Every spring and late fall warnings about fine dust appear on the front pages of newspapers. The government is always under fire for not doing enough, and people head to pharmacies to buy masks.

Fine dust has been important issue for policy makers in the government since the early 2000s. In 2011, the government wrote the PM 2.5 guideline into law and from 2015, it began monitoring and forecasting the amount of particulate matter in the atmosphere.

Outside Korea, PM 2.5 has been discussed as a health hazard for a long time.
The World Health Organization has labeled PM 2.5 as cancer-causing and has issued guidelines.

The national government puts out measures and solutions but people are not happy with them.

"The government knows the key is to curb the number of cars on the road and should come up with ways to do so, but it is not happening." said Lee Min-ho from the Korea Federation for Environmental Movement, an NGO.

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"Take Moon Jae-in for example. As a presidential candidate, he took fine dust seriously and made many promises, but the serious talk disappeared after he got in office."

How bad is it?

Size comparison for PM 2.5 / Courtesy of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Internationally, fine dust refers to particulate matter that floats in the air along with other pollutants. Particulate matter 10 and 2.5 are the most well-known and they got their name by the size of the particle _ PM 2.5 has a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller.

In Korea, fine dust refers to PM 10 only, while PM 2.5 is called ultrafine dust. With experts' recommendation that it wasn't up to the international standard, the Ministry of Environment initiated work to consolidate terminologies last year. When approved by the National Assembly, fine dust will only refer to PM 2.5 and PM 10 as atmospheric aerosols.

What makes PM 2.5 dangerous to human health is its size. Unlike other pollutants, PM 2.5 can reach deep down into the lungs and cause respiratory disorders, among other conditions including cancer.

The European Environmental Agency said in 2014 that PM 2.5 was responsible for 428,000 premature deaths across 41 European countries.
According to the OECD, in Korea alone, if no measures are taken, PM 2.5 will cause 1,109 premature deaths in the year 2060, the worst among its 34 member states. The OECD also said it will also cause a 0.63 percent loss in Korea's GDP.

What are the sources of fine dust?

Factories and coal-powered power plants are the leading sources of fine dust. So are gasoline and diesel operated vehicles. It is also generated through chemical reactions between nitrogen dioxide and ultraviolet light in the air.

Is China to blame for fine dust?

This is a contentious question. The answer differs from scientist to scientist and media outlets report different answers.
It is true that fine dust comes from China. China's industrializing eastern coast is packed with power plants and manufacturing lines emitting pollutants and they are blown toward Korea. The number of coal-powered power plants in northeastern China is rising fast.

The air from China over Korea is more pronounced during spring time when it coincides with Yellow Dust, a phenomenon in which dust from the Gobi Desert travels eastward to reach Korea and beyond. Making it worse, the most up-to-date instruments can't accurately measure the fine dust coming from China.

Last year, a NASA scientist who ran a month-long air pollution study over the Korean Peninsula warned that Korea should try to help itself first to reduce fine dust before blaming China. NASA is currently analyzing the data it obtained last May.

How much is coming from within Korea?

Studies have indicated that a significant amount of fine dust is generated within Korea. Power plants and factories are scattered along Korea's west coast.

These are the biggest contributors to high concentrations of PM 2.5. Because they are the backbone of the Korean economy, however, there's a limit to how much the government will regulate their operation. The next biggest culprits are vehicles and this where regulation efforts focus currently.

How to protect oneself from fine dust

"The best way is to avoid contact," said Dr. Hong Yun-chul from Seoul National University School of Medicine and the director of the Environmental Health Center. "It's just like smoking. You simply shouldn't smoke or avoid cigarette smoke to protect yourself."

He said drinking water can be helpful. "It helps excrete fine dust from the body" and eating fruits and vegetables. "Chemicals increase infection and oxidative stress when they arrive in the body but vitamins fight against those processes."

He also recommended wearing a mask when leaving home. Returning home, "make sure you take a shower and brush teeth to remove remaining fine dust from your body." Asked if eating animal fat can help, he answered: "It doesn't help at all."