The National Fire Agency (NFA) should set an end date for the use of crystalline-free silica in fire extinguishers, New Power Party Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said on Thursday.
The agency has no regulations in place to control the use of the substance and verify safety data sheets submitted by manufacturers, Chen told a news conference that she held jointly with the Fire Extinguisher Manufacturing and Agent Recharging Industry Union and the Taiwan Water Resource Conservation Union.
Fire extinguisher union president Liao Wei-jen (廖偉任) said that phasing out the substance would pose no great challenge to manufacturers, as only four out of 15 companies produce fire extinguishers using crystalline-free silica.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Liao urged the agency to draw up regulations that ban the use of the substance to safeguard the health of manufacturers and firefighters.
Extinguishers using certified agents cost three times as much as those with non-certified agents, and phasing out the substance would improve the price-to-value ratio of fire extinguishers, Liao said.
NFA official Shen Yi-che (沈義哲) said that the agency on Oct. 12 sent a formal letter to authorities to step up verification of safety data sheets.
The US, Europe and Japan do not ban the use of crystalline-free silica in fire extinguishers, and Taiwan seeks to maintain the same standards as the global community, Shen said.
Chen said that the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) certification standards demand that fire extinguisher agents should not contain substances that are highly toxic, have long-term effects on aquatic animals or are listed in the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.
However, some manufacturers have not provided data on the toxicity and ecological impact of their products, she said, adding that the EPA’s review procedure was flawed.
Liao said that third-party testing providers might have intentionally delivered false results.
EPA official Wu Ling-chu (吳鈴筑) said that manufacturers did not have to prove that their products did not contain crystalline-free silica.
However, all EPA tests of fire extinguishers for the substance have shown negative results, Wu said, adding that between June and August, three companies had been inspected.
Chen said that all dry-powder extinguishers should undergo inspection, and manufacturers should deliver new data to the EPA and the Fire Extinguisher Union to verify that their products fulfill certification standards.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS