A study has found that yellow dust, the airborne movement of sand from deserts in China, reduces children’s respiratory functions and raises the likelihood of respiratory-related ailments.

These findings were part of a doctoral dissertation by Dr. Hwang Seung-sik of the National Cancer Center on the effects of yellow dust on public health. He performed a study on 96 healthy children (48 females, 48 males) in 2004 and found a relationship between the yellow dust and trouble regarding the childrens’ respiratory functions.

According to the results of the study, yellow dust has decreased 29 percent of the surveyed children’s respiratory functions by more than 10 percent during 2004. During the yellow dust "storms" themselves, 36.6 percent of the children suffered from coughing attacks stronger than on ordinary days. Sniffling and sore throats were other symptoms increased by the occurrence of yellow dust in the atmosphere.

In addition, when yellow dust occurs, more children suffering from asthma or respiratory illnesses paid visits to the hospital. When the concentration of yellow dust in the air is heavier, respiratory cases increase by 22 percent and asthma cases by 32 percent, the study showed.

"The research is meaningful in showing that yellow dust has a direct impact on children, who are more vulnerable," said Dr. Hwang, adding that "in order to establish effective measures to prevent damage from yellow dust, it is necessary to create a system of special yellow dust reports [to the public], which take into account the possible routes the yellow dust clouds will take, as well as their density."

Yellow dust comes from deserts mainly in China’s Inner Mongolia region, and usually occurs during spring. It is an old phenomenon, having been recorded in the Samguksagi, a Korean historical tract published in 1145. But as the yellow dust occurences have increased in frequency, and as the sand carries with it more toxins from factories and industrial sites in China, affected nations have been worrying about its effects on public health.

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