Mosquito coil manufacturers will face fines of up to NT$300,000 if their products contain more than 20 picograms of international toxic equivalent per gram (pg I-TEQ/g) of dioxin, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
The new regulation came after the EPA found on July 25 that two types of Crocodile Coil brand mosquito coils contained dioxin concentrations 100 times above the industrial standard.
A secondary investigation on Aug. 5 found that all seven of the brand’s Vietnam-made products contained dioxin levels ranging from 163 pg I-TEQ/g to 624 pg I-TEQ/g. Meanwhile, one product passed the dioxin level test and contained less than 1 pg I-TEQ/g of the carcinogen.
Dioxin is listed by the WHO as a known carcinogen. If exposed to these burning coils in closed rooms for two or three months, a person’s risk of developing cancer could increase 3.7-fold, director-general of the Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substances Yuan Shao-ying (袁紹英) said.
“We promised to establish a safety level for dioxin concentrations in mosquito coils within a month on July 25 to protect public health,” Yuan said.
“We decided after an expert panel meeting that in the future, manufacturers with products that contain more than 20 pg I-TEQ/g of the toxin will face fines or be ordered to close down their factories,” he said.
Aside from inducing lung and liver cancer, excessive exposure to dioxins can cause low sperm count, liver dysfunction, miscarriages and birth defects, the chief of Chang Gung Medical Foundation Linkou Branch’s department of toxicology, Lin Jie-liang (林杰樑), said.
To prevent excessive inhalation of toxic gas emitted by mosquito coils — which include dioxins and octachlorodipropyl ether — Lin said people should leave the room when the coils are burning and fully ventilate the rooms before they go back in.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS