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.
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