The Center for Fine Particulate Matter (CfPM), jointly with Ulsan Citizen Safety Forum, will be holding a special forum on fine dust pollution at UNIST on April 24, 2019.
Held under the topic “Is Ulsan City Safe from Fine Dust Pollution?”, the forum is designed to help provide objective information for the citizens and others interested in strengthening policy to reduce fine dust nationwide and come up with effective countermeasures.
“The ever-worsening fine dust problem has emerged as a social issue in S. Korea, yet not enough information has been provided to the citizens,” says Professor Dong-Hyun Cha (School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, UNIST), who organized the forum. “This forum will be an opportunity to convey accurate information to the experts working at the Ulsan Citizens’ Safety Forum and Ulsan as well as the researchers of atmospheric science including fine dust.”
The forum consists of keynote presentations and panel discussions. Keynote presentations will be delievered by Professor Chang Keun Song (School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, UNIST) and Professor InBo Oh (University of Ulsan). Under the topic “Fine Dust: Reality and challenges of fine dust”, Professor Song will look at the dust characteristics in East Asia and Korean Peninsula and compare it with the fine dust issues in Ulsan city.
In the Seoul metropolitan area, gasoline-type nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, mainly produced by automobiles, secondary fine dust generation by ammonia, and soot are considered as problems. On the other hand, Ulsan has the effect of the automobile exhaust gas and the workplace such as factories at the same time. In addition, Ulsan is likely to emit fine dust during the petrochemical process and ship painting process. Due to this effect, the concentration of fine dust is high in Ulsan even in summer.
In order to cope with the fine dust problem, reflecting such regional characteristics, Professor Song suggests that ‘Establishment of fine dust management system at the local level’ is necessary. He plans to build a sensor network based on Internet (IoT) to create a local dust map and build a high resolution fine dust prediction system.
Professor InBo Oh from University of Ulsan will also deliver a keynote speech on the topic of “Emerging health problems in Ulsan due to fine dust”. In particular, he will talk about the toxicity and health effects of fine dust. This includes the content that the spike in lung cancer rates in Ulsan has been associated with traffic-related air pollution from industrial facilities. In addition to the national and societal efforts to reduce fine dust, Professor Oh will also present the countermeasures that individuals can use.
This will be followed by a panel discussion among Professor Myong-In Lee (School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, UNIST), Research Professor Young-Kyo Seo (National Institute of Environmental Research), Dr. Young-Il Ma (Ulsan Development Institute), Dr. YuJeong Kimg (National Disaster Management Research Institute), President SeongGeun Lee of (Ulsan Citizen Safety Forum), and Professor InBo Oh (University of Ulsan).
