Officials, academics and industry representatives gathered in Taipei yesterday to debate a National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) study that found students near the No. 6 Naphtha Cracker have a higher risk of developing cancer due to chronic exposure to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).
Amid doubts about whether the research was scientifically sound and claims that results were too preliminary for policymaking, the panel brought together many stakeholders in the issue, including government officials, NHRI researchers, medical and public health researchers and academics, residents from the affected area and representatives of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), which operates the cracker in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮).
The forum, led by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), came after National Taiwan University Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene professor Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權), who participated in the NHRI-sponsored study, revealed its findings earlier this week.
Photo: CNA
Chan said the research, controlled for other factors that might affect a metabolic process called thiodiglycolic acid (TDGA) excretion, found that students at the Syucuo branch of Ciaotou Elementary School, which is less than a kilometer from the FPG cracker, had elevated levels of TDGA in their urine. TDGA is major metabolite of VCM, which is a proven carcinogen and a gas released after standard processing by the plant, Chan said.
The average measurement from schoolchildren at the Syucuo school — 192.08 micrograms of TDGA per gram of creatinine — was much higher than that from three other elementary schools farther away from the plant, Chan said.
More than one student was found to have a urine level exceeding 500 micrograms of TDGA per gram of creatinine, he added.
Chan’s revelation of the “primary result,” in the words of the NHRI, of the research to reporters and his interpretation of the data were challenged by some officials, academics and the plant’s operator.
NHRI researcher Wen Chi-pang (溫啟邦), who was not involved in the study, countered that there is “nowhere in the world” where a company would determine the VCM exposure of its workers by testing TDGA levels in their urine.
“There is an association between VCM and TDGA, but maybe it is not that salient [for TDGA as a biomarker],” Wen said.
Wen said it is misleading for media outlets to directly link TDGA levels with cancer risks.
“Overinterpretation should not be encouraged lest panic spread among the residents,” Wen said.
Several experts, as well as the FPG in its statement, questioned the validity of urinary TDGA levels as a biomarker for VCM exposure, and the lack of a control group or a group with background value.
Yunlin County Deputy Commissioner Shih Keh-he (施克和) said he was “confused” by the perceived contradiction shown by Chan and the NHRI’s interpretations of the research result.
What Shih was referring to was that while a NHRI researcher making a presentation during the discussion said that the health examination given to the schoolchildren showed no abnormalities, Chan interpreted elevated TDGA levels as signifying a serious risk to the children’s health.
Yunlin County Government Health Bureau head Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍), who attended a meeting held by the NHRI for local residents on Wednesday night, said that while the Syucuo students’ average urinary TDGA level is exceptionally high, that by itself does not indicate a higher risk of cancer.
The NHRI was accused of downplaying the elevated numbers and the association between TDGA and VCM in the meeting with the residents, which met with strong criticism from at least one academic.
However, many academics agreed that while the soundness of the research could be improved and the study has a long way to go, for the children’s sake it would be appropriate for the government to take action and relocate the students before the final results arise, a conclusion with which Shih agreed.
EFFICIENCY: The rules for Philippine arrivals were revised after 17.6% of arrivals with symptoms tested positive, compared with 0.7% of those with no symptoms Starting today, Chinese spouses who hold a reunion permit can apply to enter Taiwan and travelers without symptoms from the Philippines do not need to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, but are to be tested after a 14-day quarantine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that from today, Chinese who are married to a Taiwanese citizen and hold a reunion permit can apply to the National Immigration Agency for entry into Taiwan. Chinese who are married to a foreign national and hold an accompanied reunion permit
PENGHU INSPECTION: Taiwan cannot let its enemies strut around in its airspace, Tsai said, one day after a Chinese spokesman denied a median line exists in the Taiwan Strait Following China’s assertion on Monday that there is no “median line” in the Taiwan Strait, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pledged to defend the nation’s airspace during a visit to an air force base in Penghu, saying that Taiwan cannot allow others to flex their military muscle in its territorial airspace. Tsai praised the “heroic performance” of the pilots of the Indigenous Defense Fighters who have been intercepting Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes in recent days. “I have a lot of confidence in you. As soldiers of the Republic of China [ROC], how could we let enemies strut
CONSOLIDATION? Taiwan Thinktank deputy executive-general Doong Sy-chi said Beijing’s intimidation tactics are further alienating those who identify as Chinese Only 2 percent of respondents to a poll on constitutional amendments and national identity identified as Chinese, while 62.6 percent identified as Taiwanese, the Taiwan Thinktank said yesterday. Legislators have proposed amendments to the Additional Articles of the Constitution (憲法增修條文), which would change the definition of the nation’s territory, remove the Taiwan Provincial Government as an entity, prioritize the use of “Taiwan” for national groups at international events, and remove restrictions on defining the national emblem, national flag and national anthem. The poll showed that 80.5 percent of respondents agreed that the nation should participate as “Taiwan” at events organized by world
BALANCED DEVELOPMENT: TSMC chairman Mark Liu said the firm is committed to local investment: a third in the north, a third in the center, a third in the south Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that, based on its strategy of balancing capacity, it plans to make northern Taiwan its manufacturing hub for advanced technologies that go beyond 2 nanometers. “As the company is committed to investing in Taiwan, we try to deploy one-third [of our total production capacity] in the north and have one-third each in the center and south” of the nation, TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) told reporters on the sidelines of Semicon Taiwan’s Master Forum in Taipei. TSMC last year reached its goal of deploying capacity equally across those parts
RSS