Representatives of environmental groups gathered in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday to urge the government to lower electromagnetic wave safety standards to a maximum of 1 milli-Gauss (mG).
The agency is considering lowering electromagnetic wave safety standards by 10 percent for “sensitive regions” such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, but the activists said that was not enough.
Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association chairwoman Chen Chiao-hwa (陳椒華) said the EPA was considering lowering the standard for sensitive areas from 833mG to 83.3mG.
PHOTO: CNA
“From WHO data, we know that advanced countries such as the US and Switzerland have an electromagnetic wave safety limit of 1mG. We fear that as Hsiao is on the EPA’s expert panel, his statement could cause a public misunderstanding,” she said.
She was referring to a recent remark by National Taiwan University of Science and Technology electric engineering assistant professor Hsiao Horng-Ching (蕭弘清) that even if an environment or location had an electromagnetic wave level of 8,300mG, there would be little harm to human health.
“Even at 83.3 milli-Gauss, people are still exposed to high health risks and are likely to develop chronic illnesses such as cancer, or give birth to children with mental retardation or other birth defects,” Chen said.
The environmental groups urged the government to follow the example set by other countries and set the nation’s safety limit to 1mG.
Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Hsieh Yen-ju (謝燕儒) said the EPA was not ready to decide on whether to lower the limit.
“To make sure we cover all the bases, we will hold more meetings with environmental groups, the National Communications Commission, the Department of Health and media representatives soon,” Hsieh said.
As for the debate over 1mG and 83.3mG standards, Hsieh said that since every country is different, the EPA would collect more information to determine what was best for Taiwan.
AGGRESSION: China’s latest intrusions set a new benchmark for its ‘gray zone’ tactics and possibly a new pattern that it would attempt to normalize, a researcher said China’s latest military exercises represent a new challenge to Taiwan’s legal authority to demarcate its borders in the Taiwan Strait, a defense expert said, adding that the fleets in the latest exercises were likely the most powerful the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ever assembled. The PLA conducted military exercises from Sunday last week to 6am on Friday, which encompassed large swathes of the western Pacific, including the Taiwan Strait and waters off the Philippines and Guam, National Policy Foundation associate research fellow Chieh Chung (揭仲) said on Friday. The Ministry of National Defense said that it detected 70 warship and 162 aircraft
DOMESTIC MARKET: To protect the livelihoods of local egg farmers, the government adopted a new method for releasing imported eggs, the agriculture minister said More than 54 million imported eggs will be disposed, as their expiration date has passed, Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday. Chen made the remarks at a news conference in Taipei, explaining the flow of imported eggs following recent controversies regarding the products. The ministry introduced a special egg import program to address a nationwide egg shortage earlier this year. However, controversies have risen in recent weeks. These included an accusation that the government helped some egg importing companies over others, eggs imported from Brazil that had an incorrect expiration date, and egg shipments from Brazil that were found
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
RSS