During the Seasonal Management Period, Road Cleaning Reduced 'Re-entrained Fine Dust' by 36%

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Environment announced on the 28th that during the second seasonal fine dust management period (December 1, 2020 ? March 31, 2021), the average concentration of fine dust (PM10) caused by road re-suspended dust (re-suspension) on intensive management roads decreased by 35.7% after road cleaning.

The Ministry of Environment and 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide designated a total of 387 sections (1,946 km) as intensive management roads, considering vehicle traffic volume, road fine dust exposure, and population. During the second seasonal fine dust management period, road cleaning was intensified from once a day to twice or more. When high-concentration fine dust emergency reduction measures were issued, cleaning was conducted 3 to 4 times a day.

Vacuum street sweepers, dust suction vehicles, and high-pressure water trucks were used for road cleaning. As of March this year, there are a total of 1,661 road cleaning vehicles nationwide, including 982 vacuum street sweepers, 267 dust suction vehicles, and 412 high-pressure water trucks.

The Ministry of Environment and Korea Environment Corporation measured the concentration of road re-suspended dust using a mobile measurement vehicle at 35 sections of intensive management roads in the metropolitan area before and after cleaning. The average concentration of fine dust (PM10) before cleaning was 158.5 μg/m³, and the average concentration after cleaning was 101.7 μg/m³, showing a 35.7% reduction in fine dust.

Kim Seung-hee, Director of Air Environment Policy at the Ministry of Environment, said, "Reducing re-suspended dust around roads has a significant perceptible effect on fine dust reduction, so we will continue to supply road cleaning vehicles such as vacuum street sweepers and expand intensive management roads."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.