Experts warn on cheaper power and pollution

UNFAIR EXCHANGE: Lowering electricity prices could boost power consumption and usage of coal-fired power plants, thereby endangering public health, physicians said

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





The government should not cut electricity prices unless air pollution, especially the extremely high levels of PM2.5 that are harmful to children’s health, is improved, a group of physicians and academics said yesterday.

Cheap electricity is mainly provided by pollution-spewing coal-fired power plants and cutting electricity prices could boost power consumption, they said.

Studies have shown that exposure to PM2.5 pollution can harm cardiopulmonary function, increase the risks of developing asthma, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and several infectious diseases, and is likely associated with fetal growth restriction, the Taiwan Pediatrics Association said.

People with chronic diseases, pregnant women, elderly people and children are vulnerable subjects to PM2.5 pollution, it said.

“A child’s body needs to be protected when it is growing, but if it is harmed by airborne fine particulate matter during its development stage, the damage to their health may be permanent,” said Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎), association secretary-general and a pediatrician at National Taiwan University Hospital.

Lee said that burning materials creates airborne particles and toxic substances often attach to these particles, so when people breathe in these fine particles, they settle deep in the lungs and can get absorbed into blood and blood vessels.

About 40 percent of PM2.5 pollution in the nation is blown in from other areas beyond national borders, but households can also lower PM2.5 emissions by reducing the use of candles, incense and gas heaters and refrain from smoking cigarette or barbecuing, he said.

National Taiwan University Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene professor Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said that a long-term study on children living near the nation’s sixth naphtha cracker complex in Yunlin County showed that children exposed to higher levels of air pollution have a higher prevalence of asthma (by 1.63 times), bronchitis (3.05 times) and allergic rhinitis (3.53 times) than those exposed to lower levels.

Aside from naphtha crackers, coal-fired power plants are a major source of PM2.5, he said.

The increased use of coal-fired power plants for cheap electricity could come at the expense of people’s health, he said.

The air quality in central and southern Taiwan often reach hazardous levels and the government should not cut energy prices unless air pollution problems are improved, or people might just have to pay more on medical bills because of health problems, he said.