Sunday, March 21, 2010

Yellow Dust Attacks South Korea, A Serious Warning!


Logo [Arctic 1: 2012-2013, a 32,000km Charity Cycle]

Deposits after the rain. Imagine the concentration that is airborne?

Hwang-sa, Yellow Dust in South Korea, March 21, 2010

Attack of the Yellow Dust, 2010-3-21, Korean Times Update [link]


Korean Peninsula Blanketed by Worst Yellow Dust
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

The Korean Peninsula experienced its worst case of yellow dust ever recorded Saturday and Sunday, leading the weather administration to advise people to take extra care as more is expected this month.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) posted a special yellow dust warning for most parts of the country Saturday.
[excerpt from The Korea Times]



Hello (Bae) Ji-Suk, Korean Times Correspondent.

Thank you for writing an article on the 'yellow dust' situation in Korea. I was interviewed by the Korean Times reporter Bryan Kay several times last summer on a charity expedition I am planning cycling from the Canadian Arctic to Argentina in 2012. I have lived in Korea permanently since 2006 and continually cycle year-round preparing for the future 32,000km bicycle adventure.

Last Saturday, I was cycling along the East Sea north of Gangneung, Gangwon-do when I experienced the first exposure this year to the 'yellow dust.' I rode approximately 3.5 hours around the city of Gangneung and along the new 'green path' designated for cyclists linking Sokcho City to the north. I returned home with the chills and the symptoms worsened over the next 24 hours. I began experiencing a dry headache and intense feeling of dehydration on Sunday. I consumed 6L of orange juice, water and gatorade over the next 12 hours without quenching my thirst. By Tuesday, the conditions worsened as I began losing my voice while teaching at Kwandong University here in Gangneung City, Gangwon-do. By Wednesday, I lost my voice completely and began to experience restricted breathing as swelling had by now encompassed my tonsils, vocal chords, esophagus and finally my lungs began to became affected turning into bronchitis by Thursday. The yellow dust contains numerous materials (including biological effluence) that become active once in contact with human tissues upon inhalation, and in my case, serious exposure (outdoors aerobic activity) requires weeks (3 month recovery in 2008) of treatments to maintain only a limited recovery over a period of a month or more.

My medical treatments include: double injection of antibiotics and a week's supply of antibiotics (assorted prescription pills in one packet), respiratory therapy twice (going back tomorrow morning for the third session). I began coughing up green after 6 days as this mutant dust went through my system. It's like no illness I have ever seen outside of the peninsula...but my second experience here (training on the bicycle in 2008). It's critical to warn cycling enthusiasts to stay indoors and protect their health.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust

Kind Regards,

Brian Perich, Adventure Cyclist
http://korean-world.blogspot.com - Blogging in Korea
http://arctic2argentina.com - Preparing for future expeditions & sharing explorer links
http://arctictoargentina2012.tumblr.com

An update for 2012: Recent weeks there has been elevated yellow dust levels carried in on the northwesterly winds originating in the Gobi Desert carrying in the toxins (see Wikipedia) from the industrialized northeastern China to Korea, and further Japan to the vast Pacific Ocean. In 2008, 2010, and now 2012 I've been cycling in Korea, with exposures to the dust. I have developed antigens to the dust particles contaminants, and have developed asthma and severe respiratory reactions in these recent years in South Korea. It's serious for some (my two children are vulnerable to illness with exposure too, my wife seems immune to it, she's native to South Korea). This morning, after two weeks of respiratory infections and treatments with antibiotics, I rid myself of the mucous build up in my sinuses. But, I ended up popping a cork on a dark yellow fluid, it ran like a nose bleed and filled the palm of my hand. Very strange event and I wonder about long-term effects if the material is actually toxic to the human body. I stay indoors all weekend, during the week I am teaching and have mild exposures outdoors between buildings. Spring is terrible in Korea, for this reason alone. Protect your health, wear a mask and avoid repeated exposures (too late for me).


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About the Korean-World Author

Brian Perich was an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lecturer for a decade, father, and adventure cyclist based in South Korea.

Previously, Brian has led Canoe adventures in Quetico Provincial Park, Atikokan, Ontario, Canada (1993/1999); led Grand American camping adventures (2000); lived at Paramahansa Yogananda's SRF Ashram for 5 months (see the film "AWAKE"), formerly worked in titanium welding at Agilent Technologies, formerly worked in Winery industry in Marin County with Kendall Jackson in California; Surfing and Meditation continued for several years in California, British Columbia, South Korea, Yoga training in California 1999-2000.

Between 1994-1998 - Brian completed his own adventures with motorcycles. His motorcycling marathons took him across the United States and central/western Canada, while traveling solo over an astounding 24,000km in 60 days! Brian endured 900 mile/1300km average days in the motorcycle saddle and apparently loved every minute of those adventures.

Today, he has given up motorcycle adventures altogether, but finds an outlet for his enthusiasm in outdoor recreation while bicycle touring and micro-blogging about those experiences on his mountain bikes.

While employed as an English teacher in South Korea, Brian has became an advocate for bicycle touring on his mountain bikes. The Korean-World blog originated from those small adventures in Korea, now expanded to cover his recent trek down the TransMongolian highway to the Gobi Desert, cycling 900km east through the Khentii grasslands and in 2012 crossing Mongolia in 45 days, 2500 kilometers 1553 miles. HimalayasX expedition Brian previously cycled across western China, the Taklamakan Desert, the northern Himalayas of East Turkestan Xinjiang/Uyghur Autonomous Region, the corrugated back roads and mountains of Kham Tibet. Brian successfully completed his 2011 mountain bike expedition with 3200 kilometers / 1988 miles unsupported, on/off road MTB adventure cycling.
Brian has completed his second mountain bike journey, MongoliaX expedition - Crossing Mongolia 2012, an unsupported mountain bike MTB expedition across 2500km of Outer Mongolia from Ulanbaatar to Altai Taven-Bogd National Park bordering China, Russia and Mongolia.


In 2013, as a sequel to a trilogy of cycle tours, Brian enjoyed a more leisure bicycle tour onboard his Koga-Miyata World Traveller seeing the northern tier of the United States and western Canada covering 3400 kilometers / 2000 miles in 30 days. This North American cycle tour was called Totherocktour. Enjoying the adventure of bicycle travel and every great conversation started while traveling on the road - has refueled his inspirations to cycle around the Earth. In 2013, while he cycled solo from the Great Lake State of Michigan, United States to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He weaved through local communities and reconnected with friends, family and community after spending almost a decade in Asia.


Brian is now supporting several non-profit foundations through expeditions: IDEAS Foundation of Canada IDEAS is the acronym for Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society which supports the IBD community, those suffering from IBD-inflammatory bowel disease, also known as Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis.


The second non-profit foundation is ETE.ORG - Education Through Expeditions, UK which supports educational outreach programs inside schools around the world. ETE connects explorers with students in the classroom, through an interactive online program in development (Beta).


Brian is researching support for a 18000 kilometer bicycle expedition across the Americas: North, Central and South America - ONE -Arctic to Argentina
Please contact him if you are interested in helping out.

Twitter: Cycleagain
Location: Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea or southern Ontario, Canada.

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Brian's friends have also been...Cycling in Korea!

Brian's friends have also been...Cycling in Korea!

Cycling in Korea, Warning: always wear a helmet! (I gave mine to my friend)

Cycling in Korea, Warning: always wear a helmet! (I gave mine to my friend)

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