Government measures to control air pollution have effectively lowered the density of main pollutants, with more than 90 percent of air quality observation stations reporting a gradual decline in the density of PM2.5 (particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter), PM10, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) said yesterday.
However, only 38 percent of the observation stations showed an improvement in ozone density, associate investigator Chen Yu-cheng (陳裕政) told a news conference to present the results of the institutes’ 10-year study.
Moreover, three stations even reported a gradual increase, he added.
Photo: CNA
The density of PM2.5 fell from 31.7 micrograms per cubic meter (mcg/m3) in 2007 to 21.47mcg/m3, while deaths caused by lung cancer dropped 4.26 percent, Chen said.
Deaths caused by other chronic diseases fell substantially, including 6.91 percent for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, 6.56 percent for ischemic heart diseases and 7.31 percent for strokes.
A comparison of the health status of elderly people exposed to an environment with PM2.5 density of 25mcg/m3 with that of 32mcg/m3 showed that their grip strength and muscle mass decreased by 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent respectively, while their body fat increased by 2.4 percent, Chen said.
Based on the study, Taiwan would obtain the maximum benefit between the cost of economic development and the cost of improving public health if it could reduce PM2.5 concentrations to 12.5mcg/m3 — at which point both factors would be equal, Chen said.
If Taiwan hopes to reach the green sustainable development goal set by the UN, in which age-standardized attributable mortality rate caused by PM2.5 should be less than or equal to 18 per 100,000 people, the density should be further reduced to an annual average of 12.1mcg/m3, he said.
The Ministry of Environment on April 29 said that it would revise air quality standards after the results of the NHRI study are released.
The new standard for PM2.5 would be set at 12mcg/m3 after taking into account standards set in other countries, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the air quality indicator would be revised in the second half of this year as well, it said.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS