The World Health Organization (WHO) stated today (2nd) that more than 90% of the global population are breathing high concentrations of pollutants, and poor air quality causes approximately 7 million deaths every year. Air pollution is a problem that is being dealt with all over the world, although it is more severe in poorer countries, according to new data released by the WHO. WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement saying, "Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest and most marginalized people bear the brunt." The WHO's study examines the health risks of outdoor and household air pollution The study found that about 7 million people die every year due to exposure to particles in polluted air. Studies indicate that more than 901 TP3T deaths are related to air pollution in low- and middle-income countries, primarily in Asia and Africa. Maria Neira, director of the WHO's public health and environment department, said, "This is a very serious problem we face." The data focuses on dangerous particulate matter (PM10, suspended particulate matter) between 2.5 and 10 microns in diameter. ), and the dangers of suspended particulate matter (PM2.5) with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns. Among them, PM2.5 contains toxins such as sulfate and carbon black, which pose the greatest harm to health because they can penetrate deeply into the lungs or cardiovascular system. According to the WHO, this can lead to respiratory infections such as stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and pneumonia. Source: C

Portugal generated more electricity from renewable energy than it needed in March, setting a model for other EU countries, a new report says. According to data from Portugal's National Grid Company (Redes Energéticas Nacionais, REN), renewable energy generation reached 4,812 gigawatt hours (GWh, equivalent to one million kilowatt hours) in the month, exceeding the national electricity demand peak of 4,647 GWh. Hydropower - boosted by average rainfall in March that quadrupled previous years - contributed 55%, and wind power accounted for 42%. This new record coincides with the Portuguese government’s decision in early April to suspend annual subsidies of 20 million euros (equivalent to approximately NT$720 million, HK$190 million), most of which were converted to standby firepower. Power plant obtained. It is almost a year since Portugal was last powered by 100% renewable energy, which lasted 107 hours, while the average renewable energy supply last March was 62%. Is green energy more optimistic? "Last month's results are an example of how we are not far away from all green energy generation. In addition to being a milestone for Portugal's electricity system, it also demonstrates that renewable energy can meet the electricity needs of an entire country." Two Portuguese non-profit organizations APREN and ZERO said in a jointly published report. They expect that Portugal's annual electricity demand will be stably supplied by cost-effective renewable energy sources in 2040. Although thermal power plants still need to operate part of the time, the rest of the time

From January 1, 2018, China’s import ban on foreign garbage has officially come into effect. The ban covers 24 types of solid waste in four categories, including waste plastics from domestic waste, unsorted waste paper and waste textile raw materials. As for the reason for the ban on imports, the document clearly states that "the illegal entry of foreign garbage has been repeatedly banned, seriously endangering the health of the people and the safety of our country's ecological environment." This is just the beginning. By the end of 2019, China will gradually stop importing all solid waste that can be replaced by domestic resources. Obviously, the Chinese government’s basic attitude towards foreign garbage has changed. Recycled metals, plastics and other raw materials are cheaper than virgin materials. Fundamentally, China’s status as a global manufacturing center and the resulting massive demand for cheap raw materials have determined that China has continued to import large amounts of solid waste from abroad over the past few decades. According to data from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), in 2015, more than 70% of waste plastic and 37% of waste paper in the world were exported to China. European countries and the United States are the main sources of this waste. This supply chain can be sustained naturally because every link in it is profitable. For developed countries, the cost of domestic processing is about US$400 to US$1,000 per ton, and the cost of shipping to China is only US$10 to US$40 per ton even with freight. However, for Chinese receivers, the cost is extremely low. After buying at the price, through multiple selections and classifications, and reselling them layer by layer, a series of products are formed at the bottom of the global value chain.

C2C Product Certification (Cradle to Cradle Product Certification™) is one of the world's most recognized environmental sustainability certifications with reference value, and 2017 is a year of rapid progress for C2C certification. Among them, it is worth emphasizing that the number of qualified products with C2C certification has increased significantly. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has adopted C2C certification as the highest product sustainability standard in the new federal green procurement guidelines. Home Depot and Walmart also agree that C2C certification is an important part of green chemistry. One of the very few trusted third-party verification programs for safe and secure materials. As C2C certification is recognized by more and more units in the global market and its value continues to increase, C2CPII believes that they have a greater responsibility to ensure this certification standard and maintain a leading edge in the field of product sustainability around the world. This attitude drives C2CPII to continuously revise and optimize C2C certification standards. Now, C2CPII is revising the standard and plans to launch the 4th edition of C2C certified product standards by the end of 2018. During the revision of the 4th edition, the Certification Standards Committee of C2CPII realized: "We can seize this opportunity to update the list of banned chemicals to make us more synchronized with the latest international chemicals regulations." Therefore, C2CPII proposed some major changes to the 4th edition of the banned chemicals list, and also introduced a new name "Basic Level Restricted Substances List (RSL)"

A British study on the addition of chemical flame retardants to furniture found that chemical flame retardants can increase the toxicity of smoke. In a fire, the harm to the human body may even be greater than its role in delaying the spread of fire. In this study, experts used furniture fabrics added with different flame retardants and compared the effects of these fabrics on the human body in terms of fire spread and smoke toxicity. Of the four sofa beds in the study, three complied with the UK Furniture Flammability Regulations (FFR) requirements, and the other complied with the EU market's flame retardant-free requirements. Of the three FFR-compliant sofa beds, two use different types of chemical flame retardants that comply with FFR specifications. The other sofa bed is made of all-natural materials and is supplemented by special weaving technology to pass FFR flammability Require. In the actual combustion test, it was found that the two British sofa beds with chemical flame retardants added and the EU sofa bed without flame retardants took a longer time to ignite the fire. However, during the period when the sofa bed was heated and did not burn, Over time, sofa beds containing chemical flame retardants produce large amounts of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide when heated. In tests to evaluate the incapacitation and lethality caused by combustion gases to the human body, it was found that the exhaust gases produced by two chemical flame retardants caused the greatest harm to the human body. The second highest ranking was the EU sofa bed without added chemical flame retardants. . However, the sofa bed made of all-natural materials and supplemented by special weaving technology has passed the British FFR flammability requirements and the ignition speed is also very low.