Carbon Monoxide Pollution in Korea: Public Health Implications

Abstract

Until recent years, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning dur ing the winter months was one of the most serious public health problems in Korea. Its prevalence is still among the highest in the world, mainly due to the unique heat ing and cooking system with anthracite coal briquettes used in most Korean houses. Prevention-oriented ap proaches have mostly failed to find effective solutions, since there are so many contributing factors and it is not always easy to relate their various contributions to CO poisoning. In this paper, the environmental significance of CO pollution in Korea and its public health implica tions have been reviewed, with particular emphasis on important findings from both epidemiological and air monitoring studies. The mortality resulting from CO poi soning has gradually decreased over recent years, owing to a government initiative to substitute dirty fuels with cleaner ones. In Korea, air quality standards are all based on ambient CO levels measured at fixed sites in a city. However, personal or domestic activities, such as cook ing with gas or charcoal stoves, and commuting or work ing with motor vehicles, might be far more important determinants of CO exposure than ambient CO levels measured at outdoor sites. Thus, the national policy of protecting public health by controlling outdoor levels at a few fixed sites appears to be of questionable effective ness and has a limited ability to estimate actual expo sures.