Two people hospitalized at a Taipei County hospital are allegedly showing symptoms of thallium poisoning, medical sources revealed Tuesday.
Thallium is a metallic element that is toxic to humans. Its toxic effects are cumulative. Overexposure to thallium may cause nerve damage, emotional changes, cramps and convulsions and eventually coma and death due to respiratory paralysis.
Huang Jin-chang (黃錦章), a doctor of neurology at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou, said that the patients, a married couple, were suffering nerve damage and hair loss when they were admitted to the hospital.
He said that the patients, who are both in their 40s, told him that they had felt sick for about two months with vomiting, digestion problems, paralysis and hair loss.
According to the doctor's diagnosis, the symptoms show that the patients are probably suffering from thallium poisoning, although he added that his diagnosis still needs to be verified by the health authorities.
If the diagnosis is verified, Huang said, the patients would be the first such cases ever found in Taiwan.
After the reports, police and staff from the Taipei Water Department and the city's Health Department went to the couple's apartment in Neihu Tuesday to conduct an inspection and to take samples to find whether the drinking water is the source of the problem.
Since Taiwan has no fixed standard for the amount of thallium allowed in water, the water department used US standards for their tests. Test results showed that the amount of thallium fell within the safety limits set by the US.
After examining the results, the water department yesterday once again visited the apartment to take samples.
Police promised to launch an investigation to try to ascertain whether this is a case of deliberate poisoning, but said that since the problems started two months ago, they could not be sure of finding all the relevant evidence.
Police added, however, that a Titanium tea pot, thought to be the most likely source of the poisoning, has been handed over to the Chang Gung hospital for further tests.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all