Taichung residents in seven districts are being exposed to higher concentrations of eight first-level carcinogenic air pollutants, and the government should be treating the city’s pollution as a national security crisis, an academic told a public hearing on Saturday.
The hearing held by the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau at Chung Shan Medical University focused on the bureau’s latest report on the city’s air pollution and its effect on health.
People living in districts near the state-run Taichung Power Plant, which has 10 coal-fired units and four oil-fired units, the Dragon Steel Corp plant and the Central Taiwan Science Park are exposed to eight first-level airborne carcinogenic pollutants, including arsenic, dioxin, cadmium and nickel, said Liaw Yung-po (廖勇柏), a professor at the university.
Photo: CNA
The concentrations of carcinogenic pollutants are higher in Longjing (龍井), Situn (西屯), Dadu (大肚), Daya (大雅), Cingshuei (清水), Houli (后里) and Wuci (梧棲) than the city’s other districts, Liaw said his research had found.
People who inhale such pollutants, regardless of the amount, face certain health risks, Liaw said.
The concentrations of the pollutants are related to the level of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, he said.
The air pollutants interact with other environmental factors as well as viruses, and pose a greater danger to pregnant women, the elderly and children, he added.
The government must tackle the pollution problem by monitoring the first-level carcinogenic pollutants and work to curtail or eliminate their concentrations in the air, Liaw added.
The government should allocate more funding to research on diseases caused by air pollution, said Shang Chun-hsi (尚君璽), an assistant professor at Tunghai University.
Taichung-based physician Lai Yi-chun (賴怡均) called on environmental authorities not to “beautify” air pollution data, so that people can be aware of the dangers.
The bureau’s report proves that the city’s air pollution is related to the power station and the steel plant, and the government should force them to reduce their emissions, Homemakers United Foundation member Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣) said.
The bureau said it would take into account the opinions as it works to improve its pollution control efforts, adding that three other public hearings would be held later this month.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all