Environmental group Air Clean Taiwan yesterday called on lawmakers to set stricter standards for monitoring PM10, particulate matter measuring up to 10 micrometers in diameter, in Taiwan.
“Environmental protection is not just about protecting the environment,” Air Clean Taiwan founder Yeh Guang-perng (葉光芃) told a news conference in Taipei. “It is about protecting everyone’s health, the health of the land, the health of the planet, the health of Taiwan.”
The WHO standard for PM10 is an annual mean of 20 micrograms per cubic meter (mcg/m3), Yeh said.
Photo: CNA
Many places in Taiwan, including Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, have recorded PM10 levels of “approximately three times” that value, he said.
Taiwan’s PM10 standards — a 24-hour average of 125mcg/m3 and an annual average of 65mcg/m3 — have not been revised since 1999, he said.
Since 2012, the group has been pushing for tougher standards for PM10, he said, adding: “So far, it looks like [the standards] have not been changed.”
While Taiwan has standards in place for PM10, they are “so loose” they cannot protect people, Yeh said.
He urged lawmakers across party lines to take action, saying this was a “concrete” way they could help Taiwan.
Air quality standards are set by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) according to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said.
“We absolutely support [Yeh’s] proposal,” he said, adding: “This standard should at least be the same as [that of] the WHO.”
The annual PM10 average in Taiwan has dropped 17 percent, from 51.3mcg/m3 in 2014 to 42.6mcg/m3 last year, the EPA’s Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control said in a statement, citing EPA data.
According to the WHO’s recommendation, in setting air quality standards, each nation should consider the risk to human health posed by local air quality, the situation regarding sources of pollution, feasible technologies, and social and economic development, among other factors, the department said.
The EPA is drafting amendments to tighten the PM10 air quality standards to a 24-hour average of 100mcg/m3 and an annual average of 50mcg/m3, it said.
“This standard value is in line with the PM10 standard value of Japan and South Korea, and stricter than the US federal standard,” it added.
A preview of the proposed amendments was published on May 18 and three public hearings have been held to discuss the issue and gather input, it said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS