周五 (4/9) 1.台灣火車安全嗎?2.塑膠製品 危害身體?

 新埔捷運站1號出口 旁邊7-11巷子進入20公尺 看到夏朵美髮左轉 --- 板橋區文化路一段421巷11弄1號 (陽光甜味咖啡館)

聚會時間:   PM 7:00--9:30

台灣火車安全嗎?
Taiwan's worst rail disaster in decades shows infrastructure flaws
asia.nikkei.com
 
TOKYO -- A fatal train derailment near the eastern Taiwan city of Hualien has exposed flaws in the island's infrastructure.
 
More than 50 people were killed and nearly 200 injured in Friday's crash -- Taiwan's worst rail disaster in seven decades. Authorities said the derailment was caused by a construction truck sliding down a trackside cliff and colliding with the Taroko express train.
 
The truck was part of project to build a wall to prevent rocks falling onto the track. The work had been commissioned by the Taiwan Railways Administration, or TRA, which operates almost all of the island's rail lines. Although the truck is suspected to have slid down the cliff because its emergency brake had not been properly engaged, local prosecutors and others are investigating the cause of the accident, including whether TRA bears management responsibility.
 
Transport Minister Lin Chia-lung, in a statement on his Facebook page on Sunday, said he would step down to take responsibility for the disaster.
 
Wang Kwo-tsai, deputy minister of transportation and communications, told reporters in Taipei on Saturday that although the probe was in its initial stages, a "mistake" had been made in preventing an accident. Wang's ministry oversees the TRA.
 
"I had thought that a serious accident would inevitably happen on the TRA's railway system again," Tung Hsiao-ling, who lost five relatives in a separate derailment in Yilan two and half years ago, told Nikkei Asia.
 
The TRA has continued to lose money for several decades. Experts say the authority has safety issues stemming from aging facilities and trains, as well as a labor shortage.
 
As many as 19 derailments occurred on TRA-operated lines between 2016 and 2019. While speculation has grown on whether the TRA should go private, necessary reforms have not been carried out due to objections from vested interests.
 
Yung-Cheng Lai, a professor at Taiwan University's Railway Technology Research Center, was involved in an inquiry into the cause of the Puyuma express train derailment in Yilan in October 2018, which killed 18 people.
 
"Improvement is not easy because of major problems, not only with facilities but also with software, and a low level of safety awareness," the professor told Nikkei about a year ago.
 
The crash comes despite Taiwan being praised by the international community for progressive policy moves in recent years, including its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
 
President Tsai Ing-wen has stressed her administration's track record of containing the virus through democratic means and argues against mainland China, which advocates the superiority of its authoritarian system.
 
In her 2021 New Year's Day address, Tsai said, "As a force for good in the world, we will continue to be an indispensable member of the international community, both now and into the future."
 
In 2019, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. On the economic front, Taiwan has also strengthened its presence as a global high-tech industry hub, notably its chip industry led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
 
A damaged building is seen after an earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan on Feb. 7, 2018. (Photo by Kensaku Ihara)
 
But its poor infrastructure safety record is out of character for the progressive, democratic society.
 
Taiwan is earthquake-prone as it is situated near the boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
 
When a powerful quake hit the southern city of Tainan in 2016 an apartment building collapsed, raising concerns about the earthquake resistance of many buildings on the island. When a magnitude 6.4 quake hit Hualien in 2018, some 17 people died after apartments and hotel buildings collapsed.
 
There are lingering fears about whether problematic buildings have been identified.
 
In 2019, an approximately 140-meter-long arch bridge collapsed in Yilan, killing six people. An investigation by the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board found aging or corroded materials.
 
These disasters hit global headlines, along with the shocking images of them.
 
Prompt actions have led to the development of Taiwan's society and economy, but efforts to ensure infrastructure safety are costly and have yet to be properly implemented.

塑膠製品 危害身體?
Is plastic a threat to your health? - Harvard Health
Harvard Health Publishing
 
Heating plastics in the microwave may cause chemicals to leach into your foods.
 
Plastic is everywhere. It's in bowls, wraps, and a host of bottles and bags used to store foods and beverages. But in recent years more people have been asking whether exposing our food (and ourselves) to all of this plastic is safe.
 
Studies have found that certain chemicals in plastic can leach out of the plastic and into the food and beverages we eat. Some of these chemicals have been linked to health problems such as metabolic disorders (including obesity) and reduced fertility. This leaching can occur even faster and to a greater degree when plastic is exposed to heat. This means you might be getting an even higher dose of potentially harmful chemicals simply by microwaving your leftovers in a plastic container.
 
The question is, should you be concerned? And if so, can you do anything to reduce your exposure?
 
We asked Dr. Russ Hauser, chair of the Department of Environmental Health and the Frederick Lee Hisaw Professor of Reproductive Physiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to help us sort through this issue and give us some advice on how to reduce any potential risks.
Understanding plastics
 
The first thing to know, says Dr. Hauser, is that plastic is not one thing. "There are many different types of plastics," he says. Different types of plastic have different names based on their composition — such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polycarbonate — and contain a variety of chemicals with different properties, such as plasticizers, antioxidants, and colorants.
 
Generally, there are several chemicals in plastics that are considered worrisome because they have been shown to be harmful to people who are exposed over the long term. "We're talking about very low-dose chemical exposures," says Dr. Hauser. "But even though single exposures to a specific chemical are small, if they occur repeatedly over long periods of time, their effects may add up, leading to a variety of adverse health outcomes down the road. Furthermore, and most importantly, we are exposed to many chemicals simultaneously (i.e., chemical mixtures) that may have additive adverse effects." At particular risk are pregnant women and their fetuses. Many of these chemicals cross the placenta, so the fetus is exposed. Experts say childhood exposure is also of high concern.
 
Among the more troubling chemicals are phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA). Both are endocrine disrupters, which are substances that interfere with the actions of human hormones, says Dr. Hauser.
Phthalates
 
Phthalates are known to toxicologists as male reproductive toxicants (harmful substances). But this group of chemicals is also known to have ill effects in females. Phthalates, sometimes referred to as plasticizers, are often used to make vinyl plastics soft and flexible. They are widely used in baby toys, food processing equipment and materials, medical devices, and vinyl building products, in addition to other items. A 2003-04 analysis by the CDC and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that exposure to phthalates was widespread in the U.S. population. Adult women had higher exposure than men, likely because some phthalates are also found in many cosmetics as well as personal care products such as soaps, shampoo, and body washes.
Bisphenol A
 
BPA has gotten a lot of attention in recent years because studies have shown it has reproductive and other health effects in both humans and rodents. It's most often used to make a hard type of plastic called polycarbonate, which is found in products like DVDs. It's also a component of epoxy resins, which are used for numerous purposes, such as lining the inside of food storage cans. While there has been some controversy about how harmful BPA may be, says Dr. Hauser, there's little question that there is widespread general exposure to the chemical. That same 2003-04 CDC/NHANES report estimated that 93% of people in the United States ages 6 and older had the chemical in their urine.
 
While these two chemicals get the most attention, there are many other chemicals in plastics that may be related to health problems, including processing aids, antioxidants, and colorants, says Dr. Hauser.
Is it safe to microwave plastic?
 
Depending on the type of plastics you are using, heating them in the microwave can release various chemicals into the foods or liquids that you are cooking, says Dr. Hauser. Fatty foods, particularly meats and cheeses, seem more prone to absorbing high amounts of these chemicals.
 
Some plastics are deemed by the FDA to be microwave-safe. To get the FDA's designation, manufacturers must test the containers, estimating how long the container will be in the microwave, how much a person is likely to eat from the container, and the anticipated temperature of the food inside. Provided the amount of chemicals leaching from the container into the food is estimated to be lower than the maximum allowable amount, the container is considered microwave-safe. But that doesn't necessarily guarantee safety.
 
"It's hard to say without knowing the exact structure of the plastics and any additives in the plastic," says Dr. Hauser. So, sometimes it's better to err on the side of caution. "I think a good recommendation is to try to avoid heating foods in plastic," says Dr. Hauser.
More questions remain
 
While microwaves accelerate chemical leaching from plastic, this isn't the only way that chemicals from plastic can wind up in your food or drinks. "Even if it's not microwaved, chemicals can still enter food stored in plastic containers or bags," says Dr. Hauser. "There were studies done a few years ago in Japan that show that plastics used to store foods and liquids allowed chemicals to leach into the foods and liquids."
 
Dr. Hauser was involved in another study that found liquids stored in plastic bottles that are subject to heat and sunlight passed chemicals into the liquids. And acidic foods, like tomatoes, can also absorb chemicals from the linings of food cans. Even vinyls or plastics used in homes or offices can release gases, putting measurable amounts of chemicals, such as phthalates, into the air over time. In the same way, plastic vapors can introduce chemicals to food, even if the plastic isn't touching the food, albeit in smaller amounts than would occur with direct contact. This might happen if you use a plastic splatter lid over a bowl in the microwave.