Environmental activists yesterday alleged that cellphone tower radiation contributed to high incidences of cancer in residents of Tainan's Annan District (
Research presented by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) showed that 20 residents living within a 200m radius of a mobile phone tower in Tainan had been stricken with cancer since 2003, when the base station was erected.
"More than 1,000" residents live within a 200m radius of the tower, TEPU figures showed. Five of the 20 were stricken with leukemia, including three children, it added.
The TEPU team measured radio frequency radiation levels of up to 7000 micro watts per square meter at sites inside the homes of the sick or diseased.
In response, government official said the levels of radiation observed by the team was several orders of magnitude lower than the legal limit of 900,000 micro watts per square meter.
"We have followed the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection in setting our limit," said Wu Sheng-chung (吳盛忠), deputy director-general of the Environmental Protection Agency's Bureau of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control, at a press conference held jointly by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋菫).
The activists replied that the government's limit was too lenient.
"China has a limit that is almost 10 times more strict at 100,000 micro watts per square meter," said former TEPU chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (
Wang said that the planned Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) base stations have the potential to cause even more risk to the health of nearby residents.
"This is a brand new technology and we need to make sure that the Taiwanese people do not become lab rats in an experiment," Wang said.
Tai Cheng-jeng (
"Divide that by the population and you get a background incidence rate of one in 10 thousand or five thousand," he said.
While it appeared that the incidences of leukemia among those living near the base station reported by the TEPU were abnormally high, this did not necessarily mean that there was a causal relationship between the two, Tai said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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