From our friends at the Global Village Center:

"Spring is almost here and along with the beautiful flowers and blossoms comes the not so pleasant yellow dust storms. There is potential for these storms to occur at any time of year, but they are most prevalent during the Spring season.  The yellow dust is made up of particles that rise into the atmosphere from the deserts of China and Mongolia, collect pollutants, and then fall back down to earth. It is called 황사 (Hwang-sa) in Korean [emphasis added].

There are a few important precautions you should take to limit the negative health effects of yellow dust. On days when yellow dust levels are high you should wash your hands and face with warm water and brush your teeth after coming in from outside. You should also keep your windows and doors closed, wear glasses instead of contacts, and drink plenty of water.

Another thing to remember is to try to avoid a lot of outdoor activity, especially strenuous exercise. The elderly, young children, and those with heart or respiratory problems need to be especially careful in this respect.

If you choose to wear a mask, there are few things you should know. Make sure your mask is one approved by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) or 식약청 (Shik-yak-cheong) in Korean [emphasis added]. Also, it is very important that you wash your mask in between uses. If you do not, you can actually be putting yourself at a higher risk than not using one because the particles that are filtered out stick to the one side and germs and bacteria can build up on the other. 

If you are concerned about the levels of yellow dust on a particular day you can check them in English by visiting the US Military’s yellow sand monitoring site or the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA)’s monitoring site. On the KMA site select Gwanaksan to get the levels for Seoul. The US military’s site used to have the following color codes for the levels: <100 good, 100-200 moderate, 200-400 unhealthy, 400-800 very unhealthy, >800 hazardous. The KMA issues an advisory when levels reach 400 and a warning at 800. There is also more information on the KMA site in English regarding measures to take when an advisory or warning is issued.

Some cell phone service providers also offer a service that  alerts you of high yellow dust levels by text message. These messages come in Korean but if you know how to recognize them they can still be an effective way to find out if there is a yellow dust storm coming. If you call 114 on your cell phone you will be connected with your service provider and you can ask if they offer the service. If you cannot speak Korean you will need a Korean friend to help you with this. The messages will tell you when yellow dust levels are expected to be high and you can then prepare accordingly."

Be safe expat, thanks to the Global Village Center!

Share this page