Microparcticle: The despicable Dust
By Brandon Oh and Brian Chun
Edited by Dawn Kim
Design by Nicole Yang
Edited by Dawn Kim
Design by Nicole Yang
“Due to the microparticle levels, today will be indoor recess.” Deep sighs and frowns onstudents faces are evident. This phrase is one of the least favorite of many, if not all students. Until the year of 2014 ended and 2015 started, this issue has become a huge problem not only in SIS but over the whole eastern part of Asia.
Microparticles are particles in the air between 0.1 cm and 100 μm. Originating from China, microparticles are created through pollution especially because of the production of coal and the bad environment. As the wind blows across the landmass of China, it is transferred to the Korean peninsula. Microparticles mostly originate from China because of the fast industrialization causing environmental pollution. Smog is also formed because of the pollution in Korea. Students lacking information about this major pollution problem may only care about whether if it's indoor or outdoor recess, but it can cause serious health problems such as asthma and breathing problems according to the school nurse, Soon Ja Cho. Some students were seen going outside during indoor recess, but they do not realize the dangers this can cause in the long run. Exposure to microparticle can cause extreme deterioration to the lungs where it needs to kill cells needed to properly function. It causes symptoms similar to asthma, but for people who already have asthma, the condition is worsened. Trouble breathing causes problems in circulation of air and blood in the body. The most vulnerable people are those people with weaker immune systems, such as elders and young children. “I can’t really breathe well when the microparticle levels are high... my throat swells really badly,” says Nick Shin, an asthma patient. As this issue intensified to a higher degree, SIS has decided to set the density level of 80 or higher for elementary and middle schoolers while the density level of 100 for high school students in terms of deciding on indoor recess. Microparticles not only affect the living in Korea for the citizens but also in different countries in the eastern hemisphere. Andy Kim, former SIS student, describes his experience with microparticles as an asthma patient living in Malaysia, “I have a really hard time breathing even though [Malaysia] is far away from China.” Discomfort, health issues, heavy breathing, all are caused by the invasion of microparticles. |
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