The Environmental Protection Administration has called on New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year revelers to forgo firecrackers and fireworks this year and celebrate the holidays in a more environmentally friendly fashion.
"In addition to the physical danger posed by fireworks, the EPA advises against fireworks because they are harmful to human health as they release large amounts of heavy metal particles into the air," said Chang Shun-ching (張順欽), the EPA's department of environmental monitoring and information management senior specialist.
Chang cited the Yenshui Beehive Rockets (蜂炮) Festival in Yenshui Township (鹽水), Tainan County, saying that the administration's air quality evaluation last March showed the fireworks released more than 10 times the normal amount of baseline pollutants into the air.
The fine and coarse pollutants released into the air were potassium, aluminum, magnesium, barium, lead, strontium, calcium, sodium, iron and zinc, Chang said.
Strontium, potassium and barium were at 365, 182 and 147 times baseline density after the Yenshui celebrations, he said.
"People are advised to gauge their own health conditions before attending events that use fireworks, since the pollutants may trigger asthma attacks or other problems in those with weaker respiratory systems," he said.
In related news, dust coming from northeastern China would probably continue to cloud the nation's skies over the coming days, Chang said yesterday.
Although the dust cloud was forecast to subside yesterday or today, the public is advised to stay at home the next few days and avoid strenuous outdoor activity.
Children, the elderly and people with heart or respiratory conditions or compromised immune systems are especially affected by the dust, he said.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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