After last year's scare in Belgium, in which dairy products were found to be polluted with dioxin, Taiwan is still unable to test related samples in a short period of time and help allay public fears. Therefore, the government should expand the testing capabilities of laboratories in the country and lower the cost of testing as soon as possible. It can no longer avoid responsibility under such pretexts as the lack of control standards, testing technologies or budgets.
There are vast differences between Taiwan and Western countries in terms of economic activities and lifestyles. We cannot just rely on statistics from foreign countries for the distribution of dioxins in the environment here. We should set up a domestic inventory for dioxin discharge and deposition as soon as possible and by comparing the mass balance, make sure that we do not overlook any source of dioxin. As much as 95 percent of the dioxin that enters the human body comes from food. There is a significant lack of information on dioxin levels in food products here. Especially, products consumed in large volumes by pregnant women and children (such as milk) should be listed as priorities for monitoring as soon as possible.
Ling Yong-chien is a professor of chemistry at National Tsing Hua University.
Translated by Francis Huang.
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