Less than 10 km from the Sixth Naphtha Cracker, urine heavy metal concentrations of villagers in Taixi, Changhua exceed the standard by 2.4 times

Taixi Village in Dacheng Township, Changhua County is less than 10 km from the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex, and whenever the southwest wind or south wind blows in summer, residents suffer from air pollution, yet the local government has long delayed conducting an epidemiological investigation. It was not until last year that Chan Chang-chuan, associate dean of the College of Public Health at National Taiwan University, commissioned by the National Health Research Institutes, launched a related research project to conduct health examinations for residents of Dacheng Township. The first-stage results found that the concentrations of 8 heavy metals and 1 organic compound in the urine of local residents were 1.3 to 2.4 times higher than those of residents in 8 townships in Yunlin County, including Taixi Township and Mailiao Township, which are also 10 km from the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex.

Compared with 8 townships near the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex, vanadium concentrations in Dacheng Township residents are 2.4 times higher

On the 11th, Chan Chang-chuan held a research briefing in Dacheng Township. He mentioned that in September and October of last year, the research team conducted two large-scale community health examinations of the adult generation in Taixi Village and Dingzhuang Village in Dacheng Township, Changhua County, completing a total of 426 questionnaires, health examinations for 380 people, and lung function tests for 320 people. Among the 380 residents who participated in the health examinations, the average age was 62.5 years old, and about 90% of the participants were over 35 years old.

Among the 11 heavy metals tested in urine, Chan Chang-chuan found that the concentrations of 8 heavy metals, including vanadium, chromium, manganese, nickel, arsenic, cadmium, thallium, and lead, as well as 1 organic compound, were higher than those of residents in Lunbei Township, Baozhong Township, Dongshi Township, Sihu Township, Erlin Township, Huwei Township, Yuanchang Township, and Citong Township in neighboring Yunlin County near the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Complex. Among them, the concentration of the heavy metal vanadium was the highest, 2.4 times that of residents in the other 8 townships, and the lowest, the organic compound 1-hydroxypyrene, was also 1.3 times higher.

Chan Chang-chuan stated that these heavy metals can affect the lungs, liver, heart, nervous system, and blood system respectively. As for whether the incidence of chronic diseases and cancer among these residents will increase as a result, he admitted that further in-depth investigation is still needed.