An investigation by Greenpeace Taiwan found polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) — toxic and bioaccumulative chemicals frequently used in conjunction with water-resistant textiles — present at three out of five mountainous areas that were tested, with the organization urging outdoor-equipment manufacturers to phase out the chemicals.
The organization in July collected water samples at Jhensibao (鎮西堡) in Hsinchu County, Mukumugi Valley (慕谷慕魚) in Hualien County, Cueifong Lake (翠峰湖) in Yilan County, and Lilong Mountain (里龍山) and Nanjen Lake (南仁湖) in Pingtung County, which were tested for 19 types of PFCs.
A total of one, 12 and 13 types of PFCs were found at Lilong Mountain, Nanjen Lake and Cueifong Lake respectively, suggesting the chemicals have reached remote areas, despite concentration levels generally measuring below 2 nanograms per liter, said Chen Ling-yao (陳玲瑤), the organization’s pollution prevention project manager.
Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid, the two most commonly used chemicals, are endocrine disruptors, which can have toxic effects on the liver, kidney and thyroid, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and several types of cancer, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital department of clinical toxicology director Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海) said.
PFOS is one of the three regulated toxic substances of PFC classes in Taiwan, with the substance allowed for use in producing clothing, firefighting foam, semiconductors and metallic coatings, according to the Environmental Protection Administration.
Factory emissions are the main cause of the dissemination of the chemicals, which enter the environment in gaseous form and are transported by wind and air currents, while humans can absorb PFCs if the substances enter drinking water or the food chain, Chen said, adding that wearing clothing with a PFC coating poses little health risk.
The organization calls on manufacturers to disclose the chemicals they use, replace PFCs with harmless and environmentally friendly substitutes, and schedule a timetable to phase out PFCs, Chen said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching