Fifteen compounds have been added to a list of monitored chemicals due to health and public safety concerns, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said in a statement on Thursday.
The Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau said it had enacted controls on lead (II, IV) oxide, also known as red lead, after it was determined that a Chinese medicine clinic in Taichung had used it in a product also containing powdered cinnabar.
Hopefully tightening controls of red lead would prevent similar practices, the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of the Environmental Protection Administration
Long-term ingestion of red lead can cause lead poisoning, movement disorders and damage to the heart, reproductive and endocrine systems, it said.
Excessive ingestion can also trigger a coma or an epileptic seizure, the bureau said.
Also banned were lead (II) oxide (lead monoxide), sodium sulfide, sodium thiocyanate and 2-naphthol, it said.
Lead monoxide is sometimes used to accelerate fermentation of century eggs, while there have been reports of stinky tofu vendors illegally adding sodium sulfide to their wares as a scent enhancer, it said.
Sodium thiocyanate and 2-naphthol are sometimes used as preservatives in dairy products and soy sauce, the bureau said.
It would also monitor calcium ammonium nitrate, ammonium perchlorate, sodium percarbonate, sodium nitrate, calcium nitrate, nitromethane, sodium azide and aluminum phosphide, which are sometimes used in improvised explosive devices, it said.
Psychoactive substances 1,4-butanediol and glaucine are also to be monitored, it said, adding that the addition of the two chemicals was done in response to reports that other countries have filed with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
The 15 substances are not to be used without permission and must not be traded on the Internet, the bureau said.
People or entities permitted to use monitored chemicals must label them correctly, account for their use and declare their use by publishing the documents online monthly, the bureau said.
Products that are made using monitored chemicals must be labeled as not intended for human consumption, it said.
Products that contain the chemicals linked to explosives must not be sold, imported, transported or stored without permission, the bureau said, adding that they are subject to quotas on storage volumes.
To store such products, disaster prevention and contingency plans must be submitted, it said, adding that liability insurance must be purchased and people must be trained to respond to an emergency involving the products.
Moreover, alarms and detectors must be installed at storage locations, while applications are required to to transport them, it said.
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