This study investigated the variations in monthly PM2.5 concentrations and their characteristics at the sampling site (35.075°N, 129.080°E) around the Busan seaport area for six months (from August 2020 to January 2021). Monthly PM2.5 concentrations in the filtered samples ranged from 8.4 to 42.3 ㎍/m3 (average=19.6±8.2 ㎍/m3, n=50) and were generally high in August, December, and January, and low in September, October, and November. The variations of monthly PM2.5 concentrations showed similar patterns to those of the neighboring national air quality monitoring sites. The contents of Total Carbon (TC), Organic Carbon (OC), Elemental Carbon (EC), and OC/EC ratios in PM2.5 showed large variability during the study period. The OC/EC ratios ranged from 4.2 to 34.4, suggesting that the relative contributions of OC and EC to the PM2.5 concentrations changed temporally and might be related to their formation sources. Variations in the chemical components of and particle size distributions in PM2.5 showed that high PM2.5 concentrations were affected by various sources, such as sea salt and ship emission. The precursor gas concentrations were discussed in terms of monthly variations and their contributions to PM2.5 concentrations. However, further research is needed to understand the characteristics and behaviors of PM2.5 concentrations around the Busan seaport area.

Using single cell gel electrophoresis, DNA single strand breaks were determined in various marine organisms. DNA damage on fish blood cells was detected to know whether there was a difference between Incheon, Pohang, Masan, and Tongyeong as a control site. Tongyeong showed the lowest DNA damage among the study areas. Mussels, transplanted to Masan Bay for one month, revealed high DNA damage at sites with high economical activity. In two weeks exposure of polychaete to Incheon sediments, higher DNA damage was detected in the sediment adjacent to Incheon harbor than open sea. These results suggested that the marine organism from the polluted area revealed a relatively high DNA damage. In addition, these areas might be contaminated with genotoxic compounds and comet assay was useful as a bioassay to detect DNA damage in marine organisms.