The Environmental Protection Administration has called on New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year revelers to forgo firecrackers and fireworks this year and celebrate the holidays in a more environmentally friendly fashion.
"In addition to the physical danger posed by fireworks, the EPA advises against fireworks because they are harmful to human health as they release large amounts of heavy metal particles into the air," said Chang Shun-ching (張順欽), the EPA's department of environmental monitoring and information management senior specialist.
Chang cited the Yenshui Beehive Rockets (蜂炮) Festival in Yenshui Township (鹽水), Tainan County, saying that the administration's air quality evaluation last March showed the fireworks released more than 10 times the normal amount of baseline pollutants into the air.
The fine and coarse pollutants released into the air were potassium, aluminum, magnesium, barium, lead, strontium, calcium, sodium, iron and zinc, Chang said.
Strontium, potassium and barium were at 365, 182 and 147 times baseline density after the Yenshui celebrations, he said.
"People are advised to gauge their own health conditions before attending events that use fireworks, since the pollutants may trigger asthma attacks or other problems in those with weaker respiratory systems," he said.
In related news, dust coming from northeastern China would probably continue to cloud the nation's skies over the coming days, Chang said yesterday.
Although the dust cloud was forecast to subside yesterday or today, the public is advised to stay at home the next few days and avoid strenuous outdoor activity.
Children, the elderly and people with heart or respiratory conditions or compromised immune systems are especially affected by the dust, he said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS