The area surrounding Bukchang Aluminum Factory, North Korea’s only aluminum smelting and alloying plant, is suffering from severe environmental degradation. The factory’s dust scrubbers apparently no longer work as facilities deteriorate, so the plant is releasing pollutants straight into the air.
According to a Daily NK source in South Pyongan Province on Wednesday, dust from Bukchang Aluminum Factory has led to a recent spike in respiratory disease and dermatitis in the surrounding area.
People cannot open their windows as the ashy dust gets in their homes, and dust immediately settles inside no matter how regularly they clean.
Moreover, the dust from Bukchang Aluminum Factory not only covers the area around the factory, but also drifts to urbanized areas with many offices, businesses, schools and homes, impacting the daily lives of local residents.
Built in 1983, the Bukchang Aluminum Factory produces not only aluminum rice cookers, pots, containers and other industrial goods, but also specialized aluminum for missiles and centrifuges used in the development of nuclear weapons.
Ordinary North Koreans think of Bukchang Aluminum Factory as a light industrial facility, but in fact, it is a “Class 1” enterprise that produces items for the military.
The problem is that the manufacturing facilities are decrepit as they have been in operation for close to four decades. Not only that, but the scrubbers that remove pollutants produced during the aluminum smelting and alloying process have not worked for the last several years.
The source says the equipment that filters the plant’s gas and dust has deteriorated so much that it is nearly useless.
The body absorbs very little aluminum, removing over 95% of it through the kidneys or bile. This makes it a relatively harmless metal.
However, the dust or toxins produced during the smelting and production process reportedly causes respiratory distress and weakens lung function.
Moreover, research suggests that as more aluminum elements build up in the body, nerve cells are destroyed, leading to higher rates of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) designated aluminum production a “Group 1” carcinogen in 2012.
North Korean authorities claim the smoke coming from the Bukchang Aluminum Factory is harmless, but nobody believes this. Because locals think toxins are in the dust, they are reportedly quite concerned for their health.
The source claimed there are high rates of birth defects in the Bukchang area, while the average lifespan near the factory reaches not even the mid-50s, much lower than in other regions.
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