The Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association (TEPCA) will hold a rally on May 14 urging the government to establish stricter regulations against radiation hazards.
The association hopes the rally will help to raise awareness about the need to protect against electromagnetic radiation
As part of this effort, a fund raising banquet was held yesterday to release a documentary titled “I don’t want electromagnetic -radiation in my home,” which illustrated the health risks associated with electromagnetic radiation exposure and the importance of prevention and control.
The documentary featured alleged victims of long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation from Wufeng Township (霧峰) in Greater Taichung and Chiku Township (七股) in Greater Tainan, which are home to a high-voltage sub-station and a weather radar station respectively.
Although the long-term health effects of electromagnetic radiation exposure have yet to be -confirmed, alleged victims recounted how an increasing number of people in their neighborhoods suffered from physical and mental illnesses, including chronic headaches, insomnia, miscarriages and cancer after the stations became operational.
One woman living near the Wufeng high-voltage substation said she has to wear a radiation protection helmet at home and sleep with her head in a tinfoil-covered box to prevent chronic headache.
In the documentary, TEPCA founder and chairperson Chen Jiau-hua, (陳椒華) said that the safe level for exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) emissions suggested by the Environmental Protection Administration is 833mG, but that is based on guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) for transient or very short-term peak fields, she added, and should not, therefore, be used to regulate long-term exposure.
Cheng Tse-chou (鄭哲舟), a doctor at Chi-Mei Hospital, said many people only think of biological and chemical hazards as posing health risks, because symptoms are usually more sudden and apparent, yet radiation leaves no visual signs and can take many years before -symptoms start to show.
Cheng said because susceptibility to such ailments varies among people, the problem is often dismissed and in some cases its very existence is questioned. He urged the government to take the issue more seriously.
Hsu Li-min (許立民), a doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital, said that people in the late 1980s underestimated the health effects of X-ray exposure. Because technology always runs ahead of our proper understanding of it, people should be more cautious of electromagnetic radiation than they currently are and the government should tighten regulations governing such emissions, he said.
PILLAGING PENGHU: A 7,539-tonne Chinese ship found mining sand in the Formosa Banks area was escorted by several CGA ships to a Kaohsiung harbor The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday announced that it had dispatched ships to intercept Chinese dredging vessels operating in the nation’s territorial waters near Penghu and detained 10 crew members, who were transported to Kaohsiung. A coast guard patrol discovered more than 20 dredging vessels in an area known as the Formosa Banks, 46 nautical miles (85km) southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei islet (七美) at about 5am on Wednesday. The agency responded by dispatching two patrol boats, the 3,000-tonne Kaohsiung and the 500-tonne Penghu, along with two frigates, to intercept the Chinese vessels, while an airborne observation unit was used to monitor
‘HONEYMOON’ IS OVER: A political science professor said that the Tsai administration’s popularity peaked after it successfully contained COVID-19, but is waning President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) approval ratings fell significantly this month in the wake of the government’s handling of the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll released yesterday by the New Power Party (NPP) showed. The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, down 8.9 percentage points from last month, while 21 percent said they disapproved of her performance. Her approval among respondents aged 20 to 29 fell 14.7 percentage points, the largest decrease when compared with other age
CAUTION: The CECC would first observe how the nation fares after easing domestic restrictions and wait for the pandemic to further subside before making its next move The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that relaxing domestic restrictions and border controls simultaneously might complicate efforts to reopen the nation, amid discussions about Taiwan’s exclusion by other countries in their first lists of tourists. The center hopes for there to be a period of observation following the easing of domestic restrictions, before it decides what to do next, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a daily news briefing in Taipei. Chen was responding to a question about the reasoning behind the central government’s decision not to allow foreign students into the
Taiwan respects other countries’ decisions not to include it in their first lists of tourists allowed entry when they reopen their borders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The Yomiuri Shimbun on Sunday reported that the Japanese government was considering reopening the country to tourists from Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand first. Greece on Friday announced that from June 15, it would allow visitors from 29 countries, including Australia, China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, South Korea and Germany. Japan has not yet finalized its visitor list, but the ministry has conveyed its hope that Tokyo would
RSS