Environment: Particulate Matter (PM) and its effects

Hanyang: Professor Ki-Hyun Kim of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is a researcher whose research interests lie in environmental biotechnology, heavy metal pollution, and atmospheric aerosols. Originally, Kim's professional field of study was marine science. "Marine science studies pollution and its impact on the Earth on global level. But I wanted to look deeper into the correlation between air pollution and humans livelihood," said Kim.

To discuss air pollution is a more complicated and serious matter than most of people think. "More than two million deaths are estimated to occur globally each year as a direct consequence of air pollution through damage to the lungs and respiratory system," Kim stated in his recent article, A Review of Human Health Impact of Airborne Particulate Matter. Particulate matter (PM) is the major cause which is responsible for the high figures. His paper provides comprehensive effects of PM, newly discovered information about PM, and guidelines for policies regarding air pollution.
The danger of PM is that it is easily transferable through the atmosphere into the respiratory system. Two size categories are given for PM: aerodynamic diameters of 2.5 nanometers and 10 nanometers. The former is composed of sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, hydrogen ion, etc, while the latter is composed of metal oxides of Si, Al,,Mg,,Ti, Fe and many others. The life span of PM less than 2.5 nanometers is days to weeks and they travel 100 to 1000 kilometers, while PM less than 10 nanometers travel one to 10 kilometers during their life span of minutes to hours.
"Healthy people may not even notice the impact of PM if they are exposed to for the short amount of time, but people with problems in their respiratory system and the weak are directly affected by it. In fact, studies show a correlation between exposure to PM and increased hospital admissions, emergency room visits, etc." A national U.S epidemiological study even suggests the correlation between exposure to PM and adult diabetes.
The fact that urbanization has increased the level of PM is a common knowledge. "The increased number of vehicles, unpaved roads and emission from waste, as they are commonly known, had caused serious air pollution. While it is a global problem, different nations have dealt with the matter differently." Though societal awareness of the health risks of PM is increasing, Kim argues that further research and effective management is necessary. "Future research needs to focus on identification and quantification of the unknown organic and inorganic compounds present in ambient air particles for a better understanding of their health effects."
Kim's current interest is in electronic cigarettes. "Many smokers change to electronic cigarettes due to increased prices for cigarettes and their health risks. But electronic cigarettes have health risks of their own, and I'd like to research about it in depth. My goal as a researcher and a professor is to provide useful and relevant information to the society."