The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday the dust storm that had been predicted to bring dust levels of between six and 10 times the normal level nationwide was a false alarm.
Reports of the dust cloud by local media over the weekend caused much public concern.
Still, dust levels were indeed higher than normal at four to six times the norm, said Wang Jiunn-iuan (
He said airborne pollutants hit their peak in density yesterday and should subside after today.
Since the cold front that moved in from China was not as severe as the Central Weather Bureau had forecast and given difficulties in predicting wind directions and intensity in spring, estimates of the dust level were too high, Wang said.
Wang also rebutted media reports that it had said the dust cloud would carry high levels of toxic dioxins.
"In the past three days we have detected dust levels that were two to three times the normal level on Taiwan proper, and four to six times on [outlying] islands such as Kinmen and Matsu," he said.
The southbound wind had begun to affect southern Taiwan yesterday, Wang said, adding that the highest level of dust was detected in Tainan at about six times the normal level.
Asked where the dust forecast to hit Taiwan winded up, Wang said some of the pollutants might have been carried by the wind to Japan.
"Okinawa, a Japanese prefecture that consist of hundreds of islands in the Pacific Ocean, is one of the places that has received the greatest concentration of dust," he said.
The EPA will continue to monitor dust levels throughout the nation, Wang said.
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