Taiwanese on average have up to seven times the concentration of hormone-disrupting chemicals in their bodies than their counterparts in other developed countries, medical experts said yesterday in a warning against improper handling of plastic food containers.
A study conducted by Taipei Medical University’s Research Center for Food Safety and Function Development showed that di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) concentrations in Taiwanese are two to seven times higher than their American, Canadian and German counterparts, the center told a news conference ahead of World Food Safety Day today.
DEPH, also called bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or dioctyl phthalate, is an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) that is extensively used as a plasticizer in many products, including utensils.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
The abnormally high concentrations of EDC in Taiwanese are likely linked to the plastic packaging materials that people commonly use for snacks and takeout, said Liao Kai-wei (廖凱威), an associate professor of food safety at the university.
Citing the research, Liao said that children and women who reported regularly handling plastic food wrappers or containers showed higher levels of the plasticizer than others.
EDCs are believed to be the cause of the global increases in cancer in children and breast cancer in women, he said, citing WHO figures.
Taiwanese exposure to the substance is probably connected to the pervasive misuse of plastics in the nation, he said.
Plastic food packaging is not inherently harmful, but Taiwanese routinely put hot food in plastic bags and continue using broken vessels, contaminating the food, Liao said.
Center deputy director Hsiao I-lun (蕭伊倫) urged the public to avoid heating food with plastic wraps in microwave ovens and handle paper packaging with care, as many include a layer of laminated film to improve durability.
Citing the WHO, he said that in an average year, 10 percent of the human population gets sick due to substances that pollute their food, 40 percent of whom are children under five, he said.
The study analyzed urine samples from 2,000 Taiwanese from 2013 to 2016 and was conducted in collaboration with the National Health Research Institutes.
Passengers aboard Korean Airlines Flight KE189 arrived in Taichung safely yesterday after a scare the previous day encountering uncontrolled decompression, which injured 13 passengers. Flight KE189 departed from Incheon at 4:45pm on Saturday bound for Taichung with 125 passengers on board. The flight was above Jeju Island when a fault in the pressurization system occurred 50 minutes after takeoff. Online flight tracker Flightradar24’s data show that the plane dropped more than 8,000 meters within 15 minutes, before it returned and landed back at Incheon Airport at 19:38pm. Thirteen passengers on board had a headache or earache due to the incident and were hospitalized. A different
China might seek to isolate Taiwan and weaken its economy through a “quarantine,” which would make it difficult for the US to respond and force Taipei to negotiate on unification, CNN reported on Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “increasingly bellicose actions” toward Taiwan have heightened concerns that Beijing would use its military against Taiwan, it said, citing a report by think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). However, China might choose to initiate a quarantine, rather than a military invasion of Taiwan, to avoid US involvement, it said. “A quarantine [is] a law enforcement-led operation to control
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their
President William Lai (賴清德) should backpedal from his new “two-state theory” and return to the “one China” principle in line with the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, to foster and rebuild mutual trust across the Taiwan Strait, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday. Hsiao made the remark after the Chinese government on Friday revealed guidelines saying that its courts, prosecutors, and public and state security bodies should “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession crimes by the law, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.” The Democratic Progressive Party’s “kneejerk” reaction every