What is the impact of fine dust on health?

Every spring, yellow dust from China blows in, making the air murky, and these days, warnings are even issued in the winter.

In particular, since the fine dust emergency reduction measures were issued early this year, interest in air quality has been growing, with many people purchasing air purifiers.

Fine dust causes enormous damage to health and the environment, and we will learn about its causes, effects, reduction measures, and ways to protect the environment and health.

1. Effects

1). Smog is really famous in countries such as India and Bangladesh due to air pollution caused by vehicle exhaust fumes, and in the UK, along with London fog.

2). In Korea, we are also making efforts such as mandatory installation of urea water and subsidies for early scrapping of old vehicles along with reduction devices for diesel vehicles.

3). It is thought that active climate change in Europe will not have a significant impact, but in the future, it will affect not only human health, but also the rise in global temperatures if it worsens.

2. Fine dust

1). Fine dust is divided into PM10 (diameter 10μm or less) and PM2.5 (ultrafine dust with a diameter of 2.5μm or less) which are small particles floating in the air. PM2.5 is very small in size, so it requires more attention.

2). The Korea Meteorological Administration provides concentration levels of good, normal, bad, and very bad according to the concentration of fine dust.

3). Related sites

- Our neighborhood air quality information: Air Information

- Air Korea: Air Korea

- Fine Fine: Fine Fine

https://air.go.kr/main.do

4). There are human and natural causes, and artificial causes (SOX NOX pollutants emitted from factories, cars, etc. and dust generated by increased heating use) can be reduced with effort, but natural causes such as yellow dust from China and Mongolia are difficult to prevent.

3. Environmental and Climate Impacts

​1). Environmental Impacts on the Environment (Ministry of Environment National Fine Dust Information Center: https://www.air.go.kr/main.do)

www.air.go.kr

- Climate Change: Increases air pollution and worsens the greenhouse effect

- Ecosystem Destruction: Interferes with photosynthesis of plants, pollutes water and soil

2). Serious Health Effects

- Respiratory Disease: Causes inflammation in the lungs and bronchial tubes

- Cardiovascular Disease: Adversely affects blood vessel health

- Skin Trouble: Damage to the skin when exposed for a long time

4. Prevention Methods

1). Wearing a mask: Use KF80, KF94 grade

2). Care after going out: Wash your hands and face thoroughly, and wash inside your nose

3). Indoor air quality management: Use an air purifier, and ventilate during times when fine dust concentration is low

4). Environmental protection practices: Use public transportation, save energy

Odojae (mountain ridge) where you can attain enlightenment

1 Introduction to Odojae (mountain ridge).

Jirisan(Mountain) Odojae is said to have been named Odojae because the famous monk Inojosa attained enlightenment while climbing up and down this pass.

This means a large pass to purify one's mind.

Odojae is the shortest course from Hamyang to Jirisan, and it opened in 2004. 

In addition to its function as a road for vehicle traffic, the snake-like winding road over the pass has become a new attraction and is gaining attention as a tourist attraction. 

The wide Jirisan Observatory Park was created in a location where you can see the Jirisan main ridge (Nogodan~Cheonwangbong) at a glance, just below the summit of Odojae.

Jirisan is the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula, and when you look at Jirisan, which was designated as the first national park, you can forget all the worries of the world and feel a sense of exhilaration.

The road from Hamyang, Gyeongnam to Jirisan is said to be the most beautiful road in the country.

First, there is Ji-an-jae, which has a dizzying cliff like a picture, on this road, and if you go up a little further, Odojae, which allows you to cross between Jirisan and Hamyang, is connected.

The Jirisan Odojae Healing Camping Site is located here.

2 How to get to Odojae (mountain ridge).

- Inquiries and guidance: Hamyang-gun Tourist Information Center 055-960-5756

- Website: http://www.hygn.go.kr/tour.web

- Address: 534 Jirisan-gaeneun-gil, Macheon-myeon, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do

- Hours of operation: Open all year round

- Holidays: Open all year round

- Parking: Available (Odojae Peak)

- Admission: Free

3 The scenery of Odojae (mountain ridge). 

4 Map

Are GMO materials safe for humans?

1. GMO(Genetically Modified Organism)

Genetically modified foods GMO is a genetic recombination technology that combines useful genes from the genes (genome) of a living organism with other genes.

Agricultural products, livestock products, and marine products that have been cultivated and raised for a specific purpose using modern biotechnology, and food or food additives (including health functional foods) manufactured or processed using these as raw materials are called genetically modified foods, and they began to be mentioned in earnest in the early 1990s.

This GMO is mainly used to secure food resources to solve the food shortage problem, which is why there is a shortage compared to demand, such as soybeans or corn.

2. What are the types of GMOs?

GMOs are classified into genetically modified microorganisms (GM microorganisms), genetically modified animals (GM animals), and genetically modified agricultural products (GM agricultural products), but this time we will only look at GM agricultural products.

Corn, soybeans, cotton, and rapeseed are representative genetically modified agricultural products distributed worldwide, and sugar beets, alfalfa, potatoes, rice, melons, red chicory, tomatoes, pumpkins, papaya, and flax are also being developed and can be imported at any time.

GMO soybeans are used in meju, soybean paste, red pepper paste, and tofu, and GMO corn is used in popcorn, corn oil, and canned corn (corn salad). Potatoes are also GMO-managed items, but currently GMO potatoes cannot be imported for commercial production purposes.

Among the agricultural products that we encounter in our diet, there are 191 items approved for import as genetically modified foods, and there are 6 types (soybeans, corn, cotton, canola-rapeseed, alfalfa, and sugar beets).

3. How are GMO foods classified?

The genetically modified food labeling system aims to provide information to consumers and guarantee their right to know and choose. Foods manufactured or processed using genetically modified soybeans, corn, etc. as main raw materials must display the label “genetically modified food” on the product container or packaging.

However, if genetically modified agricultural products are not in the top 5 of raw materials, or if no DNA or protein remains in the final product, the labeling may be omitted (for example, vegetable oils manufactured by dissolution method), and if no newly inserted genes (genes from other organisms) remain in foods manufactured using GMOs, the labeling is not required.

4. Staying Safe from GMOs

- Avoid processed foods: Processed foods produced in factories use raw materials using GMOs for business purposes, so use natural ingredients as much as possible.

- Avoid imported foods: Vegetable oils such as soybean oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, and corn oil are mostly products extracted using imported GMO raw materials, so use organic oil, olive oil, and perilla oil, and check for the 'USDA certified organic' mark if imported from the United States.

- Use domestic organic agricultural products: Purchase and use domestic organic agricultural products (not applicable to pesticide-free agricultural products) that are free of chemicals such as pesticides or the risk of GMOs

5. Conclusion

Now, these GMOs can be commonly found around us and are becoming an unavoidable reality.

The safety evaluation of genetically modified foods is conducted by the GMO Safety Evaluation Data Review Committee within the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and GMOs sold on the market are sold after passing examinations such as toxicity and allergy tests, so it is safe to assume that their safety is guaranteed.

Gyeonggi Yeoju Godalsa Temple Site

A temple site refers to a temple site that was once in operation but is now closed and only traces remain.

Since Buddhism was the state religion from the Three Kingdoms period to the Goryeo Dynasty, there are many temple sites in Korea. According to the Jogye Order Buddhist Cultural Heritage Research Institute, there are as many as 5,738 temple sites nationwide.

When looking at temple sites, we can see that humans have a finite lifespan, and that great monks were famous only at that time, and that they were called hosaiyupi in the history of human affairs, but now their traces have disappeared and are difficult to even mention. What good is it to look at them?

Located in Buknae-myeon, Yeoju-si, Gyeonggi-do, this temple site was founded during the reign of King Gyeongdeok, the 35th king of Unified Silla during the North-South States Period, and was designated as a historic site in 1993.

What will be Korea's future food supply?

 If we look back at human life, it has evolved from an agricultural society to an industrial society and an information society, and no one knows how it will change after that, and it only exists in the minds of some intellectuals.

In Korea, there have been many challenges to change since the Frankfurt Declaration of 1993 by Chairman Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Group, a representative leading company, but there have been few cases where visible results regarding future food have been actively announced.

If we look at the New Year's speeches or annual business plan announcements of the heads of the four economic organizations, most of them are about squeezing the current situation, except for things that are difficult to say openly.

Of course, the next food is not something that suddenly shouts Eureka one day, but is the result of conducting a lot of research and meeting people. However, only a very small number of these will be adopted, and only a small number of them will succeed.

In that sense, it can be said that the visionaries who foresaw the future of industrial semiconductors and personal portable electronic devices had a very good vision.

Smartphones, which can be called the pinnacle of modern electronic devices that have convenience and entertainment elements in life, express personal tastes well, and can include the concept of ownership, are truly groundbreaking products.

It is no exaggeration to say that Microsoft Chairman Gates succeeded by making all the computer users in the world his customers by developing the operating system, which is the software for computers, and Chairman Lee Kun-hee succeeded by making people all over the world his customers by selling computer and smartphone hardware to the world.

In light of this, the direction of the next global business can be broadly divided into:

1. Health-related: living a long and healthy life

2. Pursuing convenience in life: automobiles, computers

3. Leisure and entertainment: well-being, tourism

and I plan to review each of these contents one by one when I have time.

Deokjeokdo(Island) with beautiful scenery

1 Introduction to Deokjeokdo Island

The first place you will meet at Deokjeokdo, which can be reached in 1 hour by speedboat from Incheon Port Passenger Terminal, is Dowoo Pier.

It takes 2 hours and 40 minutes by car ferry. There are two places to catch a ferry to Deokjeokdo: Incheon Port Passenger Terminal and Bangamari Pier.

The first thing that catches your eye at Deokjeokdo Pier is the ‘Deokjeokdo Love Postbox.’

It is even more delightful to find a mailbox on an island where you miss your family or lover left behind on land. I think it is romantic to send a letter to your loved one about the island.

At the pier, a bus is waiting for you according to the time the boat arrives. There are many islands without buses, so a bus is the most welcome friend for travelers on an island trip.

Deokjeokdo has two public buses, one to Bukri and one to Seopo-ri, which run an average of 9 times a day to Neungdong Pebble Beach, providing convenience to those visiting the island.

The Deokjeok-myeon region is the oldest historical region among the islands of our country according to records.

This is because Deokjeok-myeon was the base area of ​​the maritime route used for about 100 years from the 27th year of King Geunchogo (372 AD) when Baekje began to trade with China until the 21st year of King Gaero (475 AD) when the Han River basin was lost due to an attack by Goguryeo.

It was the most important location for trade with China since long ago, starting from Neungheodae in Incheon, passing through Deokjeok Island and crossing the Yellow Sea to Dengzhou and Naeju on the Shandong Peninsula in China.

Later, during the Unified Silla period, when Baekje emerged as a maritime kingdom by taking control of the East Sea, Deokjeok Island played an important role as a gateway to the sea, and it was also an important area for maritime activities during the Goryeo period.

2 How to get to Deokjeokdo Island.

- Address: Jinri, Deokjeok-myeon, Ongjin-gun, Incheon

- Phone number: 032-899-3710

- Website: http://www.mydeokjeokdo.com/

- Area: 20.8 km 2

- Population: 1,413 (as of the end of 2010)

- Highest point: Guksubong 314 m

3 The scenery of Deokjeokdo Island.

4 Map

Different types of cheese with different flavors

 The origin of cheese is said to be that camel or sheep milk was stored in leather pouches made from animals in desert areas for long-term storage, and then naturally evaporated and hardened in the hot desert.

In Korea during the Joseon Dynasty, there was a porridge made by adding rice flour to milk called tarakjuk, although its essence was different. In modern times, various types of milk products have been developed and advanced in the West, especially in Switzerland and France.

Butter is the fat separated from the useful components of milk, and cheese is the protein separated. Today, this cheese is divided into natural cheese, processed cheese, and imitation cheese.

In the past, it was used as a high-quality drinking snack or as a topping for food, but today, it is easy to access and can be consumed in various ways. It has a texture similar to plant-based tofu, but it is a part of a completely different food.

We say kimchi as a signal to smile when taking pictures, but in the West, it is also pronounced as cheese.

In Europe, there are cheese experts like wine sommeliers, and they say that they can distinguish them because they have their own unique flavor and taste.

In Korea, cheese was first made and distributed by a Western priest in Imsil, Jeollabuk-do to increase income in rural areas, and this has continued to this day. Most of the cheese supplied domestically is imported from overseas and processed and sold.

If you look at the manufacturing process of processed cheese in a factory, it is characterized by the absence of a heating process, such as receiving-thawing-removal-dicing-cellulose addition-tumbling-weighing-metal detection (CCP)-refrigerated storage (CCP)-storage-delivery.

If you look at the food code, in the case of natural cheese, the food type (type of processed livestock product) is natural cheese, and the raw material is 99% natural cheese and contains milk.

​There are three types of cheese (natural cheese, processed cheese, and imitation cheese). However, imitation cheese is rare, and the difference between natural and processed cheese is that if it contains more than 18% of dairy ingredients, it is either natural cheese or processed cheese, and the difference between the two is that processed cheese contains food additives in natural cheese.

In other words, processed cheese is factory-made, and natural cheese is made by each farm through fermentation, etc. Imitation cheese is not cheese, strictly speaking, and is classified as 7-3 edible oil processed products in the food code, and is made using edible oil, especially palm oil, as raw materials.

By use: Pizza (mozzarella), hamburger (slice)

By origin: Camembert (France), Cheddar (England). Brie, Mozzarella (Italy), Emmental (Switzerland)

It is reckless to receive such a quantity of heads, and it is similar to Jang Woo-ji's meaning, so it also emphasizes planning beyond recklessness. (Scenario: Management by Sinario)

Korean people who like wine

 Wine is made by fermenting grapes, and when distilled, it becomes brandy, and when distilled from sugarcane, it becomes rum, so it is a type of distilled alcohol like our soju.

Yeongdong, Chungcheongbuk-do is also a major grape producing region, but as a county policy, it has introduced wineries and wine trains and is promoting them in various ways on a large scale.

Major producing regions include Yeongcheon and Gimcheon in Gyeongbuk, and Hwaseong in Gyeonggi, but recently, it seems that many regions have been cultivating them as a local fruit.

We eat grapes as a living thing, and do not process them separately. At best, we have made grape jam or wine, but this is a recent development.

The Delaware variety, which has small grains and high sugar content, is not widely known, but is occasionally seen in the market, but the Campbell and Kyoho varieties, which have large grains and high yields, are still the main varieties. Shine Muscat was introduced from Japan a few years ago, and it immediately overwhelmed the taste and size, and despite its high price, it became popular, but it failed to overcome the chasm and recently suffered from a price drop.

It is well known that the founder of Doosan was a Catholic and that Majuang was a wine used for mass at the church.

During the process of manufacturing wine, it is washed with sulfites before bottling, and since foreign substances are known to cause allergies, it is legally prohibited to include more than a certain amount (10 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide).

Wine is stored in oak barrels for a long time, like rum made from corn, and it is said that the taste and aroma change during that period, transforming it into a high-quality wine.

In a high-end bar in Gangnam, Seoul, there was a case where high-end cognac was found to be fake along with rum, and RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags were attached to the entrance to manage it.

The secret to the health of the French is that they eat slowly and drink a glass of wine in the morning, which is known as a Mediterranean diet and a longevity diet. It is said that cheeses such as Camembert topped with caviar go well with this as a side dish.

However, in the Bordeaux region of southern France, which is the main producing region, vineyards are being converted to other crops due to the expansion of grape cultivation areas and decrease in consumption.

Bordeaux liquid is used as a sterilizer for fruit trees, especially grapes. It is named after the city of Bordeaux in southern France, and is a mixture of copper sulfate and lime that is said to be effective against grape wilt. The city name has become a trademark.

This wine contains about 5% ethyl alcohol

Dannae Holy Land

1 Introduction to Dannae Holy Land.

Dannae Holy Land is a Catholic holy land located in Hobeop-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do.

It is the place where the two sons of the martyr ‘Jeong Eun Paul’ are buried.

The ‘Black Rock’, ‘Oxyul Yangjigol’, and ‘Gulbawi’ where they hid to escape persecution remain intact.

Along the pilgrimage route, you can see the appearance of the refuges where Catholic believers hid to escape persecution in the past.

The pilgrimage course is 5.2km long and follows a valley and ridge with a stream flowing and a dense forest, giving it the feel of an old monastery.

Mass is held every day at 11:00 AM except Mondays.

2 How to get to Dannae Holy Land.

- Inquiry and guidance: 031-633-9531

- Website: http://www.dannae.or.kr/

- Address: 38-13, Iseopdaecheon-ro 155beon-gil, Hobeop-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do

- Hours: Sunrise~Sunset

- Holidays: Open year-round

- Parking: Available

- Admission: Free

3 The scenery of Dannae Holy Land.

4 Map

Hangwa, a part of Korean food

 Hangwa is different from what is commonly called Yugwa, and it is also different from Yakgwa.

If you look at the traditional manufacturing process for these, it involves a fermentation process, as well as several cooking processes including frying in oil.

First, if you look at the manufacturing process, rice flour such as glutinous rice is ground finely and shaped into a certain shape, and it is fermented for about a week in the traditional way on the floor of the room. After that, it is shaped into a certain shape, fried in oil, and then covered with puffed rice, commonly called fried rice. In some cases, it is coated with seasoning such as soy sauce before that.

Recently, Yakgwa has suddenly become an issue, tempting general consumers, and Tanghulu temporarily puts fruit in sugar water to make it taste sour and sweet, but it has not overcome the chasm and has ended up dying out.

This Yakgwa is also very different from Yakgwa.

On the one hand, yakgwa is eaten as a meal replacement, so it has become a popular food at convenience stores these days, but this too is a temporary popularity that is fading away soon.

Since hangwa is a food that represents the Korean Wave in particular, and it is difficult to find similar types of food overseas, it can be seen as a promising export item. Even in this case, localization must be considered first, and it is difficult to have much meaning in marketing activities targeting local Koreans only for immediate profits.