The Yunlin County Government yesterday said that students from Ciaotou Elementary School’s Syucuo (許厝) branch, near Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s naphtha cracker in Mailiao Township (麥寮), should still remain at the school’s main campus for the coming semester one year after they were relocated due to possible exposure to carcinogens.
Seventy-six students were relocated to the main campus — about 3km east of the Syucuo branch and 5km from the naphtha cracker — in August last year after a study conducted by the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) showed the Syucuo students’ urine contained elevated levels of thiodiglycolic acid (TDGA) — a major metabolite and an indicator of the presence of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), a gas and known carcinogen released by the plant.
The average measurement taken from students at the Syucuo branch, which is about 900m from the plant, was 192.08 micrograms per gram of creatinine — almost double that of students from the school’s three other branches, including the main campus, the study showed.
Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said at a news conference that a follow-up study conducted by the NHRI that is yet to be officially released suggested that the TDGA levels in Syucuo students’ urine samples dropped to the same levels as those of students at the main campus within one year of relocation.
The latest findings could not confirm a suspected correlation between the TDGA levels and Syucuo students’ possible exposure to VGM, Lee said, adding that the county government maintained the relocation policy for safety reasons.
However, parents of Syucuo students vowed to defy the county government’s decision and take the students back to the branch campus on Monday when school starts.
“TDGA cited in the NHRI report is not an internationally recognized indicator, and the elevated TDGA levels observed in Syucuo students last year could be attributed to a few students’ abnormally high readings,” parent Hsu Hung-lin (許宏林) said.
“The NHRI report did not study family medical histories or the living environments of those students who showed higher TDGA levels to see whether any other factors contributed to the test results,” Hsu said.
“It is the responsibility of Formosa Plastics and the county government to curb pollution,” he said, adding that “the rights of students and parents should not be sacrificed.”
Parents of all the Syucuo students — now numbering 65 — signed a petition and collected 1,000 signatures from Mailiao residents to request that the county government reopen the school.
The county government sacrificed the students’ educational rights despite the credibility of the NHRI study having not yet been ascertained, leaving Syucuo students in a cramped learning environment at the main campus, which is already nearing capacity, parents said, adding that it is a matter of international debate whether TDGA and VCM are related.
In response to parents’ demands, the county government would ensure an exclusive classroom for each grade at the school, Lee said, adding that free transportation for all students was also being offered.
Ciaotou Elementary School dean Tu Hsien Hsiang (杜顯祥) said that while the school is communicating with parents and the government, it is required to abide by the government’s decision.
The Syucuo branch was open for just one year before the county government relocated the students, Tu added.
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