This photo shows central Seoul blanketed in a gray haze caused by fine dust. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid persistent air pollution across South Korea, a new study has found that prolonged exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Seoul significantly increases deaths from ischemic heart disease — including heart attacks — particularly among older adults.
According to research released Thursday by Seoul National University Hospital’s public health team, PM2.5 levels in Seoul from 2016 to 2020 averaged 23.5 micrograms per cubic meter, well above the Environment Ministry’s standard of 15 µg/m³. During that period, 10,971 people aged 25 and older died from ischemic heart disease, a condition caused by blocked or narrowed coronary arteries.
The findings, published last month in the international journal BMC Public Health, estimate that roughly 2,861 of those deaths — more than a quarter — were “excess deaths” attributable to PM2.5 exposure.
The mortality impact sharply increased with age. Excess deaths per 100,000 people were calculated at 38.6 for those 25 and older, 56.2 for those over 45, and 139.8 for those over 65, underscoring heightened vulnerability among seniors.
Researchers noted that reducing Seoul’s PM2.5 concentration to the national standard could have prevented an estimated 837 ischemic heart disease deaths over the five-year period — roughly an 8 percent reduction.
“Lowering fine dust levels to the recommended threshold would substantially reduce deaths from heart attacks and other ischemic diseases, particularly in an aging society,” the research team said, calling for more aggressive air-quality improvement measures to protect public health.
Fine Dust ( Yonhap)
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
