Exposure to ultrafine dust caused 63,000 extra deaths in South Korea during a recent three-year period, an opposition party lawmaker said Wednesday.

Particulate pollution called PM2.5, consisting of particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, resulted in 63,969 more deaths than otherwise would have been expected among people aged 30 and older between 2015 and 2017, said Rep. Kang Gi-yun of the People Power Party, citing data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The data showed that the largest number of people, 21,759, lost their lives to particulate pollution in 2017. This was followed by 21,627 people in 2016 and 20,583 in 2015.

Stroke caused the largest number of deaths from fine dust, 10,929, during the three-year period. Heart disease and lung cancer respectively killed 8,701 and 7,678.

Calling fine particulate matter an “ongoing ecological disaster,” Rep. Kang said it posed a greater risk to the lives of citizens than the new coronavirus.

“The Ministry of Health and Welfare is currently conducting public health projects like distributing facial masks to some facilities for elderly people, but it should come up with extraordinary measures to counter external factors like China, along with the Ministry of Environment,” he said, stressing the impact of the neighboring country on Korea’s air quality.

According to the National Institute of Environmental Research, up to 85 percent of the ultrafine dust analyzed between Dec. 8 and Dec. 11 last year in Korea had originated from other countries, including China.



By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)