Substandard batteries from China and Southeast Asia are poisoning Taiwan with increasing levels of mercury and other hazardous mineral waste, ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator-at-Large Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) claimed yesterday.
Under the banner: "Chinese and Asian Batteries Enough to Kill 200,000 Taiwan People A Year," Wang said during a press conference that while the mercury content of batteries originating in China and Southeast Asian countries are dangerously higher than allowed levels, none of the batteries, which are sold in Taiwan, have been banned or even regulated.
Wang quoted the results of research conducted by Yuan Ze University's Center of Environmental Sciences as showing that compared with the mercury content of US-made and Japanese-made batteries, which average 0.13ppm, batteries from Southeast Asian countries and China have mercury content averaging 34ppm and 127ppm, respectively, far exceeding Taiwan's allowed maximum level of 5ppm.
Wang claimed that about 74 percent of the batteries sold in Taiwan are from China or Southeast Asia. The amount equals roughly 600-700kg of mercury.
However, he went on, only 15 percent of Taiwan's used batteries have been retrieved and recycled, with the remaining 85 percent ending up in incinerators or landfills each year, polluting an immeasurable volume of water and air with mercury, lead, chromium and other depleting elements.
If 3 grams of mercury is enough to kill an adult, the 600-700 kilos of waste mercury is enough to kill 200,000 Taiwanese people each year, Wang warned.
Wang called for the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to conduct a nationwide census on batteries in Taiwan to find out their mercury content as well as their final destination.
He also demanded that the government increase fines for people who import, produce or distribute illegal batteries that have high mercury content.
Chang Hsu-chang (
China dumps about 20,000 tons of substandard batteries in Taiwan annually without attracting notice from the Taiwan authorities, according to a private environmental group.
The batteries, with an average mercury content that is 360 times greater than that of legally controlled batteries, are posing a threat to Taiwan's environment and people's lives, according to a spokesman for the group.
The Chinese batteries -- many of which are produced in underground factories and illegally smuggled into Taiwan -- are easily available on the shelves of NT$10-per-item stores, the spokesman said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS