OPEN KITCHENS: Restaurants have the second-highest PM2.5 levels among indoor locations, led by Korean barbecue, teppanyaki and steak places, a two-year study found

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 23, 2019
By: Liu Li-jen and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Levels of PM2.5 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung have fallen over the past four years, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday, as it considers setting up an air pollution management task force to address pollution in southern Taiwan.

The risk of developing lung adenocarcinoma was 15 times higher in the area than in northern Taiwan, potentially because of high emissions of PM2.5, or fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller, according to a joint study conducted by multiple universities, the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and the Taiwan Society of Cancer Registry.

Greater regional air pollution could be caused by the concentration of heavy industry in the area, the EPA said.

The government in 2015 implemented measures to reduce PM2.5 emissions, such as controlling emissions from fixed and mobile sources, promoting relevant policies in state-owned businesses, cutting down on diesel-powered vehicle emissions, promoting the collective burning of joss paper and reducing the number of events at which joss paper is burned, it said.    [FULL  STORY]