Environmentalists yesterday urged Matsu devotees to refrain from setting off firecrackers, or burning incense and joss paper ahead of an annual religious festival next month to reduce air pollution.
Campaigners gathered at Nanyao Temple (南瑤宮) in Changhua City — the first stop of the annual Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage, one of the most celebrated religious activities in Taiwan — and presented a bouquet of flowers to Changhua Mayor Chiu Chien-fu (邱建富), urging people to replace incense and firecrackers with flowers.
Environmentalists measured air pollution levels inside and outside the temple with handheld devices, and recorded concentrations of PM2.5 — particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter — of between 50 micrograms per cubic meter and 60 micrograms per cubic meter outside of the temple.
Photo: Liu Shiao-hsin, Taipei Times
However, concentrations of PM2.5 reached more than 200 micrograms per cubic meter near incense burners inside the temple, illustrating the severity of air pollution caused by incense burning.
According to Environmental Protection Administration criteria, PM2.5 levels higher than 54 micrograms per cubic meter are considered hazardous.
Changhua Medical Alliance deputy director Chen Chih-yuan (陳志遠) said during an anti-pollution campaign in Nantou’s Puli Township (埔里) last year that PM2.5 levels were about 15 micrograms per cubic meter, but the level soared to 319 micrograms per cubic meter after a local temple set off fireworks in celebration of the birthday of a god.
“Air pollution caused by religious activities can be more serious than haze in China,” Chen said.
Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance founder Yeh Guang-peng (葉光芃) said burning incense generates benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can cause respiratory diseases, while particulate matter resulting from incense burning are smaller than bacteria and can easily enter the human body.
Fight for Health Women’s Group executive director Yen Shu-nu (顏淑女) said environmental protection is not in conflict with religions, and replacing ghost money with food offerings or charitable deeds has become a common trend.
“There are 91 temples in the city, but only 15 practice environmentally friendly worshiping. We called on the city office to encourage more temples to follow suit and reduce air pollution,” Yen said.
She said the group asked the city office to monitor air quality during the whole pilgrimage and to make public data collected to serve as a basis for future pollution reduction efforts.
Chiu said the office has instructed temples to reduce the number of incense burners, use fewer and thinner incense sticks and build environmentally friendly furnaces to burn ghost money.
The Changhua County Government has provided temples with electronic firecrackers to reduce the use of traditional fireworks during religious activities, Chiu added.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
RSS