Taiwan’s average PM2.5 concentration was 12.6 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³) this year, showing that overall air quality has improved slightly since last year, the Ministry of Environment said today.
The average PM2.5 concentration this year as of Dec. 3 was 12.6mg/m³, slightly better than 12.8mg/m³ last year, the ministry told a news conference.
This means that Taiwan achieved its target of falling under 14mg/m³ for this year, the ministry said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
PM2.5 is particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller. Such particulates are a key component of air pollution and a known cause of many health issues, including cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
The number of eight-hour ozone “red alert” days was 88 as of Tuesday last week, also a slight improvement from 93 days last year, the ministry said.
However, the average hourly ozone concentration rose by 2 percent compared with last year, it added.
The hourly concentration is easily affected by sudden incidents, while the eight-hour average better reflects overall conditions, Department of Atmospheric Environment Director-General Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said.
Ozone levels typically rise at about 10am as the temperature rises, but due to high temperatures in recent years, levels have declined more slowly, which warrants close attention moving forward, Huang said.
On Jan. 26 next year, the ministers of environment and health are planning to meet with the presidential National Climate Change Committee and Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee to discuss air pollution and health, and to promote air quality management in schools, he said.
Huang cited kindergartens as an example, saying about 30 schools across Taiwan would be monitored for potential indoor pollutants, such as kitchen fumes, to gradually develop ways to improve air quality.
In addition, the ministry has set up PM0.1 monitoring equipment in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan, focusing on collecting data, as there are not yet any international standards for PM0.1, he said.
As PM0.1 are extremely light and small, equipment to measure PM2.5 cannot detect them, China Medical University Department of Occupational Health and Safety professor Yang Li-hao (楊禮豪) said.
PM0.1 monitoring would support long-term data for epidemiology research, addressing issues that PM2.5 measurements cannot, Yang said.
Due to climate change, periods of low wind are becoming longer and the atmosphere’s boundary layer is lowering, making it harder for pollutants to disperse, Academia Sinica Research Center for Environmental Changes deputy director Lung Shih-chun (龍世俊) said.
These weather conditions, combined with pollution and higher temperatures, can negatively affect people’s lungs and heart, Lung said.
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