Air Pollution & Health

[Anchor Lead]

A recent study suggests that more than 30,000 people die prematurely every year in Korea and Japan due to air pollution. Here’s more on the risks of air pollution and where it’s coming from.

[Pkg]

The Seoul metropolitan area has been shrouded in heavy smog two out of every three days this month. When dust concentration levels were extremely high, 70 percent of the smog originated from China. A study says that smog from China causes more than 30,000 premature deaths in Korea and Japan every year. The results of the study have been published in the international academic journal Nature. Researchers from Tsinghua University and Peking University of China and the University of California-Irvine of the U.S. analyzed the migration route of fine dust particles 2.5 micrometers in diameter coming from industrial complexes worldwide in 2007. An analysis of premature deaths caused by heart, lung and blood vessel disorders in the areas affected by dust showed that some 410,000 of them stemmed from air pollution. The researchers said that most of the smog originated in China and inflicted the most serious health damage to people in Korea and Japan due to the wind blowing from China. The researchers estimated the annual number of premature deaths caused by air pollution in Korea and Japan in 2007 reached 30,900. The results of the study conducted by researchers including Chinese nationals are expected to have profound effects globally, as China refuses to acknowledge the impact of its air pollution on neighboring nations.