An environmental group yesterday called on the government to ban polyvinylchloride (PVC), saying it was harmful to humans and the environment.
“PVC is the second most commonly used plastic in Taiwan. Its life cycle — from production, usage, to disposal — is a direct and indirect threat to human health,” Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Hsieh Ho-lin (謝和霖) said.
In addition to a polluting manufacturing process, PVC waste produces dioxins when incinerated, Hsieh said.
When PVC products are used, the danger comes principally from PVC additives such as plasticizers and stabilizers, Hsieh said, because “without plasticizers, PVC is a lot less useful and without stabilizers, PVC is unstable when hot.”
“Among the five most commonly used plastics [PE, PVC, PP, PS and ABS], PVC is the only one that contains chloride, which enables it to be shaped easily when mixed with plasticizers,” Hsieh said.
“This enables manufacturers to inexpensively mass produce an array of plastic products with varying hardness. For example, while without plasticizers PVC can be hard like plastic pipes, with between 50 percent and 70 percent plasticizers, it can be as soft as food wrap,” Hsieh said.
“The most commonly used plasticizer, DEHP is harmful to the reproductive system … It has been found to damage the penis and testicles of male fetuses,” Hsieh said.
In addition, PVC stabilizers are mostly heavy metals, such as cadium, which is harmful to kidneys, and lead, which affects intelligence in babies and adults, Hsieh said.
“What is alarming is that as most plasticizers are oil-soluble, harmful compounds such as DEHP, lead and cadmium may seep out of PVC products and be absorbed by human bodies, even without heating,” Hsieh said.
This occurs, for example, when greasy food comes into contact with PVC food wraps, he said.
Last year, a study conducted by National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University showed that DEHP levels in pregnant Taiwanese women were four to 13 times that of pregnant US women, Hsieh said.
“As such, we call on the government to ban PVC altogether,” he said.
The director-general of the Environmental Protection Administration’s department of Solid Waste Control, Ho Soon-ching (何舜琴), said that a total ban was infeasible for the time being as the flexibility and plasticity of PVC in some products, such as IV bags and tubes, was hard to achieve using other methods.
As for food containers and wrappers, Ho said that although the administration had tried to ban PVC in 2006, the plan was stalled because of protests from retailers.
“Currently, we try to limit PVC use by increasing processing fees for its recycling,” she said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS