20120301 Activists call for better air quality

Activists call for better air quality

By Lee I-chia / Staff Reporter

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin, left, and Yeh Kuang-fan, a member of the Taiwan Healthy Air Action Association and a gynecologist at Changhua Christian Hospital, call on the government to follow WHO standards for regulating the amount of fine particulate matter in the air, at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

Doctors, legislators and environmentalists yesterday said that in addition to fine particle PM2.5 (particles under 2.5 micrometers in diameter) air pollution, PM10 pollution can also harm the body and they urged the government to raise regulations for the standards for both types of pollutants to the level suggested by the WHO.

Quoting the latest issue of The Lancet, a weekly general medical journal, Yeh Guang-peng (葉光芃), a gynecologist at Changhua Christian Hospital, said new research showed that coarse as well as fine particles smaller than PM2.5 could enter the body, possibly through the nasal passage, and get into the brain.

Taiwan Neurological Society chairperson Wu Shey-lin (巫錫霖) could not attend the press conference, but expressed his opinions through a written document given to reporters, saying that many reports in renowned medical journals have proved a direct correlation between the air pollution index, strokes and dementia, so the government should set stricter safety standards on PM2.5 and PM10 to protect people’s health.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said data collected by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) showed air quality in the nation’s five metropolitan areas all ranked below average when compared with more than 1,000 cities globally — with Greater Kaoshiung ranking No. 969 and Taipei ranking No. 849.

Many people know that fine particle PM2.5 pollution is linked directly with strokes, and cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, but PM10 can also cause a higher occurrence of cognitive decline, Yeh said. The loose safety standards on PM10 pollution in Taiwan may mislead people and lead them to underestimate the health risks associated with poor air quality.

A public hearing to discuss amending air quality standards is scheduled to take place at the EPA tomorrow and formulating adequate standards for regulating PM2.5 pollution is to be discussed during the meeting.

However, at present there are no regulations concerning concentrations of fine particle PM2.5 pollution and the safety standard for particle PM10 pollution was set at daily mean concentrations of 125μg/m3 in 2004.

The WHO’s suggested safety standard for PM2.5 pollution is a 20μg/m3 annual mean and a 50μg/m3 daily mean concentration, while PM10 pollution is set at a 10μg/m3 annual mean and a 25μg/m3 daily mean concentration, Yeh said.

“Overseas medical reports suggest that even levels of air pollution deemed safe by the WHO can contribute to higher rates of cognitive decline, strokes and heart attacks,” Yeh said.

Responding to the press conference, Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴), a section chief at the EPA’s Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Department, said: “Indeed, we have not achieved the standard suggested by the WHO, but we hope to reach the same levels as the US and Japan first and then take 10 years to gradually achieve the WHO’s standards.”

“We hope the standard can be set at the WHO’s suggested level straight away because people’s health is not something that can wait that long,” Tien said. “The problem is much more serious than pesticide residue or lean-meat additives, because people can choose not to eat certain food, but everyone has to inhale the air.”