The Ministry of Environment on Friday pledged to review its air quality monitoring network within a month, after medical professionals urged improvements in tracking nitrogen dioxide levels, especially in high-traffic urban areas.
Department of Monitoring and Information head Chang Shun-chin (張順欽) said that the ministry would reassess the number and placement of monitoring stations across the country.
The ministry’s commitment came after several medical associations held a joint news conference calling for an upgrade in the nationwide monitoring of nitrogen dioxide and PM0.1.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The experts cited international studies linking nitrogen dioxide exposure to at least 10 major cancers, including lung, liver, breast and uterine cancers.
Mackay Memorial Hospital obstetrician and gynecologist Huang Jian-pei (黃建霈) said that uterine cancer has now overtaken cervical cancer in Taiwan, and that factors such as declining birthrates, obesity and environmental exposure — especially to nitrogen dioxide — might be playing a role.
He referenced a study last year that tracked 33,417 people who had breast cancer for more than a decade, and found that each 5 parts per billion (ppb) increase in nitrogen dioxide exposure raised the risk of uterine cancer by 23 percent.
The risk rose by as much as 53 percent for urban residents.
Obstetrician and gynecologist and Taiwan Association for Minimally Invasive Gynecology president Chen Kuo-hu (陳國瑚) said that nitrogen dioxide exposure was also associated with a 21 percent increase in ovarian cancer risk, rising to 44 percent among city dwellers.
Ovarian cancer ranked among Taiwan’s top 10 cancer-related causes of death last year.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) echoed these concerns, criticizing the ministry for maintaining only six traffic-related monitoring stations since the 1990s.
Liu called on the ministry to submit a concrete plan for expanding the network within one month.
Chang said that source control, such as reducing vehicle emissions and accelerating the shift to electric transportation, is more fundamental to addressing air pollution.
Nitrogen dioxide levels have already shown significant improvement, he said.
Between 2015 and last year, average nitrogen dioxide concentrations dropped from 14.21 to 9.57ppb at 78 general monitoring stations, and from 25.67 to 18.8ppb at traffic-specific stations.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS