‘VERY UNHEALTHY’: The hourly concentration of PM10 in Yunlin County reached 623 micrograms per cubic meter at one point, the agency’s data showed
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 27, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday issued its first text
An alert yesterday sent to residents in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township by the Environmental Protection Administration warns of air pollution.
Photo provided by the Environmental Protection Administration
message air pollution alert to residents in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮), when the area’s air quality index (AQI) reading exceeded 200.
A cold front carrying pollutants from China to Taiwan resulted in poor air quality in the central and southern coastal regions yesterday, the agency said.
The agency’s monitoring station in Mailiao gave a “purple” AQI reading of 211 — meaning “very unhealthy” — at 2pm yesterday, EPA data showed.
The hourly concentration of PM10 — particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less — reached 623 micrograms per cubic meter at one point, the data showed.
The alert advised residents to avoid outdoor activities, EPA Department of Environmental Monitoring and Information Management Director-General Chang Shuenn-chin (張順欽) said.
Alerts are only issued when a monitoring station’s AQI reaches 200, and are only sent to residents within a 20km radius of that station, to prevent them from becoming a public nuisance, he said.
The agency recently launched a new air quality monitoring Web site, which has more infographics showing changing weather conditions, as well as scientific explanations of the chemical elements of pollution, to help people understand that “air pollution is a culmination of a combination of factors,” he said. [FULL STORY]
