Cellphones Are Linked to Cancer by World Health Panel

Cellphones Are Linked to Cancer by World Health Panel

By TARA PARKER-POPE and FELICITY BARRINGER 6:01 PM ET

A World Health Organization panel put cellphones in the same category as dry cleaning chemicals and pesticides.

「腸」保健康

如何避免大腸癌

口述：王正一教授 整理：游繡華

台大醫學院 榮譽 教授王正一

在臨床與研究上，我與「大腸」為伍的日子已經超過四十年，以後還要繼續糾纏下去，也許五十年、六十年。

透過大腸內視鏡與相關的檢查，我對於大腸這個器官及它的功能運作也稍有瞭解， 敬重而又非常愛護它，我們已成莫逆之交了。

大腸的長度大約 一公尺，當我在做大腸鏡時，知道大腸真的是可長可短，非常有彈性， 如果做人能像腸子一樣能屈能伸，那真是了不起。

大腸裡邊的內容物東西，大家都熟悉，非常不討人喜歡。但是， 能夠維持大腸暢通無阻，卻是很重要的。每個人幾乎一天、 二天就要去上洗手間，做這個必須的動作。如果你沒有良好的排便習慣，是會很麻煩的。

飲食之後，大腸就會快速反應，排空內容物以便容納新的廢棄的食後垃圾。

最近幾年，大腸癌發生率突飛猛進，五、六年來已快速竄升到發生率第二名，僅次肝癌。每年發生案例多達一萬人，非常恐怖。

我覺得有責任替大腸說說話，讓每一個人，學會尊重自己體內這個了不起的器官，善待它。它也會因此給予人體最好的回饋，也就能避免大腸疾病的發生了。

所以，以下我將以大腸為第一人稱，帶著大家進入大腸的世界，也聽聽它的心聲。

少油少肉多運動　避免息肉轉癌化

「你們要多運動，我才會有力量蠕動。」

大腸對身體的主人提出第一項重要建議：一定要多運動。

「每天日行萬步」是一種很好的運動，每天以一分鐘一百步的速度，走一百分鐘。成為生活習慣。

我有一大串的「小兄弟」小腸，小腸有五、六公尺長，年輕有活力。而我的直徑寬約三至五公分 ，小腸比較細，直徑寬約一公分。

我的小兄弟每天每天很認真地工作，會壓、磨、揉、搓、切，什麼功夫都會。食物從胃送下來以後，小腸就開始把它們由大變小，由小變細、弄碎，吸取其中的營養，包括蛋白質、醣類、脂肪、 無機鹽、維他命等等，還有一些微量金屬。

我的小兄弟們有很多「衛星工廠」，就像便利商店有中央廚房、連鎖店，各有不同設備或功能，有的負責存放，有的負責代謝。當然它存放以後，什麼部位需要什麼營養、或什麼物質， 全由它分配。

而我，大腸，只要身體吃進東西，立刻藉著胃反射，帶動我蠕動，我是很勤快的。所以主人很快有感覺要上廁所。

這是帶動反射，我要負責「清空存貨」，運好準備儲存新的「貨物」，負責存放小腸處理後的廢棄物，我還有一個重要的功能──吸收水分。

如果我沒有吸收水分的功能，一個人一天要拉出四、五千西西的水，每天就要補充很多水分才夠。

我有又厚又韌的腸壁，但是我也需要營養。我最害怕的是肉類脂肪，特別是「含高油脂的肉類」，因為這些食物到了小腸以後，哦！ 油頭粉面。小兄弟被迷住，動作變得慢吞吞地，吃得飽飽地完全不想動。像人剛吃飽不想做事一樣， 也像人喝酒後東倒西歪，五、六公尺長的小兄弟都不動了，連帶著，我想動也動不了。

腸子不動是非常麻煩的事喔，因為我們兄弟雖然都不動，我吸收水份的功能還是很好，不會中斷，不會停止。我大腸裡的排泄 物就變得越來越硬，液狀的貨物結果變成像石塊般硬，搬運好費力，我也可能無力搬動它了，這一來就會變成「便秘」了。

身長一公尺的我，身上也會有一個一個小倉庫，叫作「憩室」。有的憩室是先天的，有的是因為我壓力太大、緊張，為了消除緊張，腸壁就向外膨出造成憩室。

還有，如果存在我這兒的廢物變得很硬的時候，比較硬的廢物也會變大，相對於小兄弟小腸年輕力壯， 沉穩如中老年人的我，可沒有力氣把這些大石頭給搬出去。這些沒有 搬走的石塊，就成了很大的負擔，可能戳傷我腸壁的皮，而且小兄弟分解完食物糜，送下來的廢物，可能存有很多毒素、很多細菌，時間一久，我的皮就壞掉。失去我美麗的外表， 也失去功能，好像雞皮疙瘩，一塊一塊的，這是所謂的「息肉」。這 些疙瘩一個一個跑出來以後，有的時候會長大，會變成壞的癌細胞，所以我最不喜歡主人吃太油的東西。

多纖維多喝水，蔬菜水果最健康。我喜歡的是蔬菜、水果， 含有很多水分、纖維，當然也喜歡主人多喝水。

因為纖維跟水在一起，就會膨脹起來，當膨脹的體積夠大了，我就知道我要動作了。我要把廢物排空，然後我也會覺得很舒服。所以，主人要了解，我這中老年人的力量是有限的， 像大石頭般的糞便，我是排不動的，請無論如何要多喝水。

如果身體太少攝取纖維質、水分，我這兒的糞便太多太大，我搬不動、排不動之後，就形成醫生們說的「機械性腸阻塞」〈Mechanical ileus〉。腸子前端可能會腫大起來，壓力也越來越大，我也會受不了，最後我會爆炸、腸子穿孔，對身體是很危險的。 只要醫師警覺，就會立刻切掉我潰爛的部分，唉，那我真是無辜受罪啊。可是只要平時多吃蔬菜水果，我就會很健康。

我的營養是來自血管，我的腸壁周圍都有很豐富的血管。如果血管不 暢通，我的外表就會受到傷害，就會出血。這就是所謂「 缺血性結腸炎」〈Ischemic colitis〉。粘膜表面是很嬌嫩、脆弱，最容易因缺氧， 缺血出血。

二十多年來，臺灣人的生活習慣有很大的改變，西化的速食連鎖進駐，人們都愛吃油炸的食物。而且平時都很忙碌，就少運動，可能也沒有多喝水的習慣，所以這幾年來， 聽到我們大腸罹患癌症的例子是越來越多。 大腸癌的死亡率增加十倍，發生率增加到十多倍。二○○五年的數字 顯示，大腸癌的發生率達到九千六百例，這已是接續在第一名肝癌之後，排名第二了，與九千九百例的肝癌相差不多了。

而就在 2007 年，大腸癌的發生率已經突破一萬例。 肝癌是第一個突破一萬例的癌症，大腸癌是第二個，而且案例還在持續增加中，這是非常恐怖的。「我不希望健康的我長癌細胞，因為長了癌細胞我就痛苦了，我被害、 要被開刀，我要變短了，這些都是我不樂見的。」

切勿亂服藥

我有的時候也會發炎，有種種原因可能引起發炎，特別是主人喜歡吃抗生素時，抗生素可能會讓我「拉肚子」，引起我「結腸發炎」，甚至害我的表皮爛掉、鼓脹起來，形成偽膜， 這是很嚴重的。所以我也呼籲人類，非必要時不要隨便吃抗生素。

長期吃抗生素，就要小心有特別的細菌會跑出來，這些細菌就是偽膜性結腸炎發生的重要原因。 已知大約百分之二至三的人身上有這些細菌，現在越來越多，尤其在長期療養院的住客可能多到百分之二十至三十， 醫院住院的病人也多到百分之三十，這是所謂的困難腸梭菌〈Clo stridium difficile〉。

這也是未來院內感染管制非常重要的課題。

「吃了壞東西，我受不了，就要很快排出去。」所以，主人腹瀉是因為食物中有毒素，需要儘快把毒素排掉； 所以不必立刻吃「止瀉藥」來解決問題。例如偽膜性結腸炎，就是標準的梭菌引起的發炎，你給我吃抗痙攣、抗蠕動的藥，結果呢？就發生一個問題，這些壞東西跟我相處的時間越來越長， 反而不好，所以有這種屬於刺激性的毒素、細菌存在時，最好是不要給我吃止瀉藥，毒素反而排不出去。

還有，或許主人會覺得奇怪，如果我發現裡邊有血，我也會想辦法很快地排出。雖然血本身是很寶貴的東西， 可是我很愛護我的環境，我很環保，我不要這裡血流成河，我不要，也不喜歡。

胰臟發炎腸不動

還有一項我大腸最害怕的刺激──來自胰臟。

胰臟發炎的時候，會分泌胰臟酵素，胰臟酵素會消化我、我會被溶解掉，我會被吃掉；如果我亂動，這酵素就會亂跑亂竄，影響就會很大，所以我懂得犧牲小我不影響大局， 我要發揮防火牆的功能，把它隔開。

可是如果遇到「腹膜炎」這樣的大災難，我也沒辦法，我也分不清楚那裡是真正的病變，這時候我只能消極地罷工處理，整個腸子不蠕動，這是所謂的「麻痺性阻塞」， 唯有這樣能保護大腸也保護整體。我不是不愛動，我絕對是盡責的。平時，我是很規律地在動，一分鐘動二次、三次。 我一動就是整條按照次序地動，但是遇到外面情況不好的時候，我就不敢動。

少用牙籤免危機　

很多人習慣用牙籤，但是小腸和大腸我們兩兄弟都很害怕牙籤。牙籤一不小心咬斷了，喀擦，結果牙籤掉到食道，沒問題；掉到胃，沒問題；掉到小腸呢？「那我的小兄弟會被這些尖尖的牙籤傷害， 甚至被牙籤刺破。」

所以我們最不歡迎主人用牙籤。

還有一些很硬的藥物也可能傷害到我。

特別是止痛消炎藥〈NSAID〉，品質差的消炎藥「崩解率」 很差，意思是說不容易溶解也不容易吸收，從食道滾啊滾到大腸來，在滾的過程，藥的外表有一部分已經破掉，帶著很強的腐蝕性，NS AID 的成分都是鹽酸，我的內皮被灼傷、潰爛。NSAID 引起的腸壁的問題，是最近十年非常嚴重的事實，會引起出血， 醫生用內視鏡檢查可以看的到藥就留在那位置上。

大腸歡迎益生菌〈probiotics〉， 但是益生菌一吃就是幾億個、幾十億個，甚至一百億個，數量太大，裡面是不是有藏著一些「壞菌」？很令我憂心：「一次吃進這麼多的菌，如果藏著『壞人』，那就很麻煩， 會不會傷害到我？」

所以，我還是希望：有正常的飲食，有適量的纖維，有正常的活動，有足夠的水分，而且不吃油，不吃肉，四個有，兩個不，是保護我最好的方法。

王醫師的大腸經

各位讀者，聽完大腸的吶喊之後，回復到我腸胃科醫師的身分。

我要呼籲大家，多吃蔬菜、水果，少吃油炸的食物，少吃肉類， 要多運動、多喝水、多吃素，絕對可以「腸」保健康。請每天至少有 一餐，每一週至少有一整天吃素。

親愛的人類，您如果愛護自己的大腸，就請吃素吧！

還是吃媽媽煮的東西吧！５招面對起雲劑、DEHP

台灣大學今天舉行「從添加塑化劑看食品安全」台大公共論壇，《中央社》報導，與會的台灣大學食品研究所教授孫璐西表示，塑化劑事件是近30年來，她看過最嚴重的食品摻毒事件，塑化劑DEHP比三聚氰胺更毒20倍。

她指出，起雲劑是複方食品添加物，未列在目前國內食品添加物的17大類中，各國起雲劑配方不同，大多由阿拉伯膠、乳化劑、植物油及多種食品添加物混合而成；該次塑化劑風暴，因有不肖業者把塑化劑的1種DEHP（鄰苯二甲酸二酯）當作起雲劑的配方。



----
Subject: 【健康宣導】起雲劑、DEHP事件！５招面對有毒塑化劑


大品牌、大超市販賣，我們天真的相信，這樣的食品不會有問題。但食品背後，我們
一無所知。它們是如何製造出來？放了哪些添加物？我們都不知道。直到全球第一宗
飲料塑化劑污染，平地一聲雷轟炸耳膜，才被迫去了解添加物複雜、黑暗的另一面。


》什麼是起雲劑？


起雲劑，連長期關注食品安全的專家們都不見得聽過。起雲劑卻是一種合法的食品添
加物，可以添加在運動飲料、果汁、果凍、優酪、檸檬果汁粉末裡。降低成本和增加
產品的穩定度，不肖廠商惡意添加塑化劑DEHP鄰苯二甲酸二（2-乙基已基）酯，除了
已經下架的運動飲料等產品外，可能已經入侵果醬、果露、益生菌粉等。


》什麼是DEHP？


DEHP是一種常用的塑化劑，可以增加塑膠的延展性與彈性，是一種環境荷爾蒙，已經
被證實會干擾人體荷爾蒙雄性激素的訊息傳遞，以及男性生殖系統的的發育。孕婦體
內的DEHP過高，會導致甲狀腺素分泌過低，影響胎兒中樞神經和成長。因為影響內分
泌，也會造成女童性早熟，2～8歲就來月經。

環保署將DEHP列管為第四類毒性化學物質，和DDT、鉛同級。主要的攻擊對象是肝
臟，因此與肝癌、麟狀細胞癌有關。

但以動物實驗來看，要造成肝癌，需要每天喝數十瓶運動飲料持續半年，因此不必
過慮。成功大學環境醫學研究所教授李俊璋表示：DEHP絕大多數在24～48小時內就會
隨尿液排出體外。


》慢慢侵蝕更令人憂心


除了這個惡意的犯罪添加外，身為石化王國的台灣，人們事實上長期處於低濃度的
DEHP裡。

飲食中很容易將DEHP吃進肚。陽明大學環境研究所教授陳美蓮就曾經針對超商便當做
研究，便當加熱後，DEHP的濃度就會達每日容忍攝取量的63.1～92.2％。

悲慘的是，連灰塵都有。由於化合物會蒸發，散落在灰塵中。無助的是，位於食物鏈
最上層的人類體內當然也有。


李俊璋曾研究國內孕婦體內DEHP代謝物MEHP、MBP都偏高，其中MEHP濃度為每公克60.8
微克，是美國孕婦4.6微克的13倍。


n 不管事實多嚴重，但我們還是可以從幾個方向採取行動，將人體暴露降到最低：


(一)不要往便宜貨奔去

「便宜必定有鬼」台北醫學大學公共衛生系教授韓柏檉指出。《恐怖的食品添加
物》作者安部司曾任職於食品添加物公司，他說，如果有破壞行情的價格時，往往是
添加物業者及食品加工業者在暗中活動，利用添加物降低材料品質。


(二)少吃動物性脂肪

許多有毒化學物質用脂肪的形式在食物鏈穿梭，少吃動物性脂肪如奶油、起司牛
肉、羊肉等肉類，可以大幅降低人體受到環境荷爾蒙干擾的機會。


(三)經常洗手

李俊璋研究發現，因環境荷爾蒙影響而性早熟的女童讓她們飯前洗手，攝入的DEHP就
大為降低。


(四)盡量避免食物接觸塑膠

避免用塑膠製品、塑膠容器、塑膠袋裝食物，要微波調理食物，也請用玻璃製品或瓷
器。


即使有些塑膠產品號稱可用於微波，但也可能某些物質還是會流洩出來，一切務求謹
慎，美國威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校動物學博士《失竊的未來》作者柯爾朋（Colborn）建議。


(五)防毒之外也要排毒


韓柏檉建議，除了防毒之外，就是要排毒。他提倡，「二少二多去三毒」原則，即少
加工、少食品添加物，多天然、多蔬果，以及去防腐劑、去色素和去香料。另外，多
運動排出的汗水，也可帶出毒素。


＊ 每次食品安全事件總叫人驚恐失措，但也是一次機會檢視生活大小決定，免於毒物
的危害。 ＊


資料出處： 2011/05 康健雜誌 150期



還是吃媽媽煮的東西吧！

清華大學分子醫學研究所教授李寬容認為，市售保養或增加抵抗力的食品，都必須拿出證據。圖為商家將有疑慮的商品下架。（陳志源攝）

　最近爆發食品摻雜塑膠粉的毒害事件，想起三聚氰胺毒奶粉也才發生沒多久。其實不只是台灣，全世界的食品業有良心的少之又少，快要絕跡了。我執教生物化學將近三十年，自認是此行業專家。我敢保證國人目前看到的、聽到的，只是冰山之一角，說不定只是冰山之「十分之一角」。

　一般而言，要鑑定一個單純化學物質成份的過程，包括分離、淬取、純化，非常耗費人力與耗費時間。除非你事先知道是什麼物質，有標準圖譜例如：高效液相層析儀（HPLC）、質譜儀（Mass）、核磁共振儀（NMR）、元素分析儀（EA）等。這些分析儀器昂貴、維護龐雜。還要有訓練精良的專家來操作、綜合整理與判讀，往往沒有這麼簡單容易。我們真的是應該看看過去歷任政府投資多少人力、物力、財力來替國民健康把關，來作為政績與選舉投票的參考。一般政客對這些名不見經傳，而且沒有立即搏版面價值的幕僚單位，既不會去在意也不會去加以重視栽培。

　例如大家從許多廣告中都知道食品和保健品保養品含有維生素Ｃ，你們知道維生素Ｃ有還原態與氧化態嗎？大家知不知道維生素Ｃ在水溶液中非常不穩定，很快氧化；而氧化掉的維生素Ｃ不僅不能抗氧化，而且變成非水溶性，有傷肝、傷腎的潛在危機。

另外一個例子是昂貴的Q-10，它也是有還原態與氧化態。你們知道世界上有賣還原態的Q-10嗎？不要一窩蜂趕時尚，花大錢而有害身體（毒品？）。市售保養、增加抵抗力的食品，都必須拿出證據。我個人認為不小心吃到蟑螂壁虎，也同樣有增加白血球的可能。

　再來，你們知道西點麵包香噴噴、軟綿綿，為什麼同樣是麵粉做的饅頭沒有香味？為什麼產生這麼香令人垂涎的香味？為什麼本來不該很Ｑ的食品變成很Ｑ？為什麼本來不該很白的食品變成很白？都值得讓大家仔細想一想。

　再來，你們知道台灣的五穀雜糧含有黃麴毒素的百分比嗎？我懷疑藥檢局願意公布答案。

　還有，保養品、鮮奶，含有Ｘ種不該有的物質，也請相關單位一併公告吧！Ｘ=多少，請翻一翻任何一頁檢驗記錄簿，應該都知道。

　我的結論是：大家還是回家乖乖吃媽媽煮的東西吧！我知道太多太多不能說的祕密，擋人財路，老命休矣！不過現在是民氣可用，為了國民健康，藥檢局你們趕快多買幾台HPLC、Mass、及相關設備吧！

　（作者為清華大學分子醫學研究所教授）

參考核污染植物蔬果吸收率Potatoes may be more dangerous than other vegetables

Potatoes may be more dangerous than other vegetables

2011/05/29

A farmer crushes vegetables earmarked for disposal in a hothouse in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, on March 23. (Jun Kaneko)

Potatoes may be more liable to be contaminated by radioactive materials released by the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant than other types of fruits and vegetables, according to a study by Japan's agriculture ministry.

Researchers looked at the absorption rates of 17 types of vegetables and four fruits and found that sweet potatoes and potatoes were significantly more likely to take in radioactive materials than other fruits and leafy vegetables.

The maximum absorption rate of a sweet potato was 17 times higher than that for a lettuce, for instance.

"If potatoes are grown in farmlands where high concentration levels of cesium have been detected in the soil, they could contain more (radioactive material) at the time of harvesting than safety standards," a ministry official said.

The research, released by the government on May 27, was based on data drawn from foreign countries with a similar climate to Japan.

The absorption rate was calculated as the proportion of the cesium present in the soil that finds its way into a fruit or vegetable's edible portions at harvest.

For example, if sweet potatoes with a maximum absorption rate of 0.36 were grown in soil with 5,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, the agriculture ministry researchers would project about 1,800 becquerels of radioactive material per kilogram in the vegetable itself if the maximum rate was applied.

The study gave three different absorption figures for each foodstuff: a maximum ratio, a minimum ratio, and an average ratio.

According to the data, the average absorption rate of sweet potatoes was 0.033. The maximum and minimum rates were 0.36 and 0.0020, respectively. The corresponding figures for Irish potatoes were 0.011 (average), 0.13 (maximum) and 0.00047 (minimum).

Other fruits and vegetables had considerably lower absorption ratios. The average rate for a lettuce was 0.0067, with a maximum rate of 0.021 and a minimum of 0.0015.

Apples showed a 0.0010 average absorption rate and a 0.0030 maximum.

Under the Food Sanitation Law, the maximum permissible level of cesium in a kilogram of vegetables is 500 becquerels.

In April, the agriculture ministry and the Fukushima prefectural government jointly conducted a soil survey in farmland beyond a 30-kilometer radius of the Fukushima plant.

They found about 5,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram of soil in Iitate village, Kawamata town, Otama village, Nihonmatsu city and Motomiya city. Residents of Iitate village and part of Kawamata town have already been told to leave their homes.

The ministry decided to look at contamination levels to about 15 centimeters below the surface because cesium leaked from the plant is likely to be mixed into the soil when farmers prepare the land before planting.

It gathered overseas data on soil contaminated by cesium-137, which has a half-life of about 30 years, to a depth of 10 to 20 cm.

"The amount of data is limited, so the absorption rates are just for reference. We want each local government or farmer to decide which agricultural products to plant," a ministry official said.

The ministry has already banned rice planting in some areas, but has no plans for similar embargoes on the planting of vegetables and fruits.

Instead, it plans to stop shipments if agricultural products are found to exceed safety standards for radioactive materials when they are harvested.

An official of JA Michinoku Adachi, an agricultural cooperative in Nihonmatsu, said: "The absorption rates released by the agricultural ministry are just a guide. But in areas where high concentrations of radioactive materials are detected, we could change to products which have low absorption rates."

(This article was written by Satoshi Otani and Keishi Nishimura.)

福島地震後數小時核電場燃料棒即熔

Japanese scientist: Fukushima meltdown occurred within hours of quake

By Brian Vastag and Steve Mufson, Published: May 27

Nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant began melting just five hours after Japan’s March 11 earthquake, a Japanese nuclear engineer told a panel of U.S. scientists Thursday.

About 11 hours later, all of the uranium fuel in the facility’s unit 1 reactor had slumped to the bottom of its inner containment vessel, boring a hole through a thick steel lining, the University of Tokyo’s Naoto Sekimura told a committee of the National Academy of Sciences.

Graphic

Japan’s nuclear emergency

Gallery

  Japan battles to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and to care for millions of people without power or water in its worst crisis since World War II.

Sekimura’s assessment further damages the credibility of the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco). This week, the company admitted for the first time that nuclear fuel in three of the plant’s reactors had melted — a conclusion that independent scientists had reached long ago.

And in a rare insight into internal deliberations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees U.S. power plants, Commissioner George Apostolakis said that NRC staff members “thought the cores were melting” early in the Daiichi crisis. This conclusion — and the lack of information from Japanese authorities — drove the commission’s controversial recommendation to evacuate Americans within 50-mile radius of the facility, an area far larger than the 12.5-mile evacuation zone then enforced by the Japanese government.

“The 50 miles was very conservative,” Apostolakis told the academy scientists. “You can’t say someone was right or wrong in this situation.”

The six-reactor complex on Japan’s northeastern coast continues emitting radiation into the air and water, and Tepco has said that it will not be able to bring the three heavily damaged reactors under control until late this year or early next year.

The radioactive material already spewed by the plant could cause 120 cases of leukemia in Japanese children over the next 10 years, scientists from the National Cancer Institute said at the meeting.

“You can see there might be considerable number of leukemia cases,” said NCI’s Kiyohiko Mabuchi. He added that the estimate was very rough, based on the assumption that the non-evacuated population of Fukushima prefecture — nearly 2 million people — stays put for the next decade. The case figure was derived from scientists’ understanding of radiation’s dangers gleaned from studies of Japanese atomic bomb survivors.

At a second meeting Thursday related to the Fukushima Daiichi crisis, a U.S. Energy Department official warned that the nuclear facility still faces grave danger.

John E. Kelly, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear reactor technologies, said that protective components at the facility could crack because of high salt levels. There “is still a concern about more massive failure” of steel in the “lower head,” an important part of the containment system, Kelly told an NRC advisory committee. About 100 to 200 tons of salt left by the emergency pumping of salt water to cool the reactors are probably corroding the containment components.

Kelly also stressed that Tepco would have to continue pumping water into the damaged reactor units and venting radioactive steam for a year or more.

Tepco has built a low-level waste storage facility on the site but has no plans to move the waste elsewhere, he added. “It could be almost 30 years before they could use the site, so it’s almost permanent.”

Kelly made his comments during a hearing of the NRC’s advisory committee on reactor safety, which is drawing lessons from the disaster for the U.S. nuclear industry.

Kelly said an enormous number of unknowns, including the cause of an explosion at the unit 4 reactor, the safety of pools of used nuclear fuel and the condition of key protective components, remain.

More damaging revelations emerged earlier Thursday in Tokyo, where Tepco told reporters that a new leak in a storage container had dumped an additional 60 tons of radioactive water into the environment.

A high-level team of investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Japan this week to begin a 10-day investigation of the crisis.

In the United States, the NRC is in the midst of a wide-ranging 90-day review of U.S. nuclear power plant safety regulations in light of Japan’s crisis, the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine.

臺灣的飲料界因添加違法塑化劑DEHP醜聞

近日臺灣的飲料界因添加違法塑化劑DEHP再度造成人心惶惶，
影響範圍很廣泛
這表示至少近五六年來或從有史以來
整個食飲業(包括政府) 等都是自以為是



----這些都是非第一要務
消基會今(25)日呼籲，行政院應立刻建立「課徵金」的機制，成立消費者保護基金，用於查緝有毒商品流向、收購有疑慮商品、並進行市場清除等，以保障消費者權利。行政院發言人楊永明回應指出，將邀請專家及相關單位進行討論及研 ...



***

蘋論：毒遍全世界

2011年 05月27日

台灣有些怪異的現象，像是娘砲（男生的長相動作女性化）越來越多、女生早熟（初經已提前到小三）、生育率過低、不孕症增加等，原因不明，如今真相大白，原來是30年來許多飲料食品中的起雲劑配方裡，都被加了塑化劑的緣故。
塑 化劑者是一種工業用塑膠軟化劑，不能當飲料的添加物。吃多了會男性雌化，女性早熟、危害孕婦並且致癌。那麼那些黑心的製造商為什麼要添加這種害人的毒物？ 因為在飲品中添加的棕櫚油配方很貴，黑心業者就以廉價的塑化劑替代。以前嘲笑中國黑心食品全球亂賣，還自以為清高，現在台灣的塑化劑飲料也在全球大出風 頭，兩岸接軌快得超出馬總統的想像。台海兩岸聯手毒遍全世界，報八國聯軍之仇，兩岸憤青、憤老們肯定相擁大笑。

可是喝到肚裡的人台灣遠多於其他國家，所以基本上還是毒到自己人。使用塑化劑的老祖宗是57歲的昱伸公司老闆賴俊傑。這位老兄名字沒取錯，毒遍四面八方被告發後面不改色說：「我從18、9歲當學徒，就用這種配方調製起雲劑。」意指這是業界公開的祕密，有什麼好大驚小怪的？如此氣魄真俊傑也。賴老兄因為有這獨門祕方，產品獲得「最便宜」的優勢，成本只有別人的1/5，得以長期佔據業界龍頭的寶座。

罰則輕鼓勵犯法

黑心加臉皮奇厚，完全符合政黨的求才條 件，兩黨不是大嘆人才求之不易嗎？趕快吸收賴桑參選立委或總統，保證他是全球頂尖的刺客，還是用毒高手。他比陳肇敏等冤殺江國慶的狗官們還狠；陳等只是對 付一個倒楣鬼；可是俊傑兄不針對個人，而是一視同仁，統統下毒。地不分東南西北，人不分男女老幼，一概毒之。

有法律對付他嗎？若援引《食品衛生管理法》最重也只能罰30萬元，不過掉一片皮屑。若以《刑法》傷害罪辦也很難。沒有受害人出面證明自己的病與塑化劑相關，就無法判他刑。賴老兄完全知道塑化劑的毒性，並非無知，他還刻意生產銷售，拿別人的生命、健康換取他的鉅額利潤；最威的是他完全沒有罪惡感，不是俊傑是什麼？
這麼久才查出問題，政府的食品管控機制有問題，需檢討改進。罰則太輕，等於鼓勵業者犯法。

瑞士政府計劃逐步關閉該國的核電站

據

瑞士TagesAnzeiger日報網站週三援引“消息靈通”人士的話報導稱﹐瑞士政府計劃逐步關閉該國的核電站。

瑞士政府將決定﹐在該國現有的5個核電站營運許可證到期後﹐也不再建立新的核電站。瑞士政府將於格林威治時間1330在伯爾尼舉行新聞發佈會。

據報導﹐瑞士最後一個核電站將於2034年停止運營。

富士康爆炸初判 粉塵惹禍(中国・成都のiPad2製造工場で爆発、3? 人死亡)

一

起造成人員傷亡的工廠爆炸事故將使科技行業中最大的中國製造商面臨新的監督﹐並將使外界擔心起蘋果(Apple Inc.)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard Co.)等公司的平板電腦、筆記本電腦和電視機的供應。

富士康成都車間發生爆炸

上周五，鴻海精密工業股份有限公司位於成都的一個工廠發生爆炸，當天造成兩名員工死亡，16人受傷。

總部位於台灣的鴻海精密工業股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)說﹐已停止所有電子產品及部件拋光車間的生產﹐等待進一步的調查。該公司在大陸運營著數十家工廠﹐更加為人所知的是其使用的商標富士康(Foxconn)。

上週五﹐鴻海位於中國西南一個相對較新的工廠發生爆炸﹐造成三名員工死亡。鴻海週一說﹐一個政府工作組在初步調查後認為事故是工廠一個管道中的可燃性粉塵造成的。

成都的這家工廠從事產品拋光作業﹐是生產過程的最後環節之一。中國媒體報導說﹐該工廠生產iPad及元器件﹐不過鴻海和蘋果均未證實這一說法。

鴻海發言人說﹐該公司對受影響車間的檢測可能要持續兩天時間。他說﹐車間通過測試後﹐就可能立即恢復生產。

不過﹐如果停產時間延長﹐則可能對從手機到遊戲機等全球電子供應造成廣泛的影響。分析人士說﹐除蘋果和惠普外﹐鴻海還為索尼公司(Sony Co.)、戴爾(Dell Inc.)和任天堂(Nintendo Co.)代工生產產品。鴻海去年實現收入逾800億美元。

投行Piper Jaffray & Co.分析師芒斯特(Gene Munster)說﹐他們可以說是全球消費電子產品組裝商。

爆炸事故是鴻海面臨的最新挑戰。去年﹐鴻海工廠發生的一系列員工自殺事件迫使該公司為工人的待遇進行辯護﹐並提高了工資。

CCTV/Reuters

視頻截圖顯示，爆炸後消防員赶到了富士康成都廠區﹐爆炸造成三人死亡。

一個勞動維權組織週一說﹐在事故發生前﹐曾就成都工廠的危險工作條件向鴻海提出警告﹐包括在拋光iPad外殼過程中空氣中漂浮的過量鋁粉塵。

鴻海發言人說﹐該組織是在試圖利用這一悲劇性的事故﹐歪曲了該公司致力於員工健康和安全的承諾。

可燃性粉塵是製造業中一項公認的風險﹐從使用塑料粉或鋁粉的電子產品生產商到穀類儲存廠和糖果廠的生產。具有潛在可燃性的物質在微粒狀態下尤其易燃﹐原因是有更大的可燃性表面積暴露在外。

鴻海的客戶會受多大影響完全取決於這些車間會關閉多久。無法完成產品意味著會出現生產瓶頸﹐不僅會導致零部件和未完工產品的庫存增加﹐還會造成包裝等後期環節中斷。

蘋果和惠普拒絕置評。其他鴻海客戶未立即置評。

分析師說﹐車間可能不會關閉太久﹐鴻海會轉移生產以緩解中斷情況。憑借根據客戶的時間要求提供低成本製造服務的能力﹐鴻海在過去20年實現了快速發展。

IHS iSuppli分析師迪格斯（Thomas Dinges）說﹐鴻海去年才剛成立這家成都工廠﹐正在逐步增加產能。他說﹐該工廠僅處理約20%的iPad訂單。

大多數電子產品公司往往會有最多可支持六週的庫存﹐但蘋果iPad 2自3月發佈以來需求量太大﹐因此其庫存可能僅夠支持三週。

在位於中國內陸地區的成都設立工廠是鴻海削減成本的一個策略﹐因為那裡的勞動力更便宜。

瑞士銀行（UBS）分析師Arthur Hsieh說﹐若成都的產能無法快速恢復﹐鴻海可能需要在深圳僱用更多昂貴的勞動力。

儘管富士康目前主導著代工行業﹐但分析師說鴻海的競爭對手可能會力圖爭取包括蘋果在內的一些客戶﹐其競爭對手如新加坡的偉創力公司（Flextronics Inc.）和台灣的廣達電腦股份有限公司（Quanta Computer Inc.）。

促 進勞工權利的香港組織大學師生監察無良企業行動（Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior﹐簡稱Sacom）週一說﹐在3月和4月對成都工廠進行調查期間發現﹐至少有一部分工廠存在鋁粉塵過多的情況。

Sacom於5月6日在一份報告中發佈了這些調查結果﹐說工人對吸入粉塵及通風不良有抱怨。不清楚Sacom在報告中提到的車間是否包括此次事故地點。

不過﹐Sacom週一的聲明指責富士康對其早些時候的調查結果“置若罔聞”。

鴻海發言人說﹐公司會將爆炸案調查結果告知員工和公眾。

他說﹐現在我們的重點在為死去員工的家屬提供支持﹐確保受傷員工得到醫療護理和他們要求的其他協助。

富士康成都廠爆炸　郭台銘親自坐鎮 【13:43】

〔本報訊〕位於中國成都進出口加工園區的富士康產業基地，20日晚間發生爆炸意外，造成2死、16傷，媒體報導，事發當時，鴻海集團董事長郭台銘，正搭車從河南省鄭州前往山西省晉城的路上，當他接獲通報後，當晚就搭乘飛機前往成都處理事故。

　據悉，爆炸地點位於富士康成都廠北廠區的A5棟，該廠區為ipad2系列生產線，爆炸原因疑似趕工釀災，但詳細的原因仍待調查。

　有目擊者表示，爆炸發生當時該廠區2、3、4樓的牆體都被震裂，周邊住戶都聽到聲響，一度以為是地震，但事發後，廠區紛紛冒出濃濃的黑濃以及刺鼻的味道。

　鴻海集團董事長郭台銘第一時間聞訊後，立即立即指示成都公司負責人，「員工的生命第一，要迅速瞭解爆炸傷亡情況，盡最大限度救治受傷員工，全力以赴解決醫療等善後工作；迅速報告當地政府，請求消防救護。」

　隨後，郭台銘打電話給成都市官員，請求協助調查處理事故和善後工作；他還打電話給太原、河南等富士康在大陸各地的園區主管，要求所有生產類似產品的工廠立即停產，嚴格排查安全隱患。

　晚間7時30分左右，座車行駛到焦作服務區，心急如焚的郭台銘立即要求同行的、主管安全的副總經理和技術專家返回鄭州機場，搭乘當晚9時35分的航班飛往成都處理事故。

　晚間9時，郭台銘連夜召集富士康集團高層主管召開5個小時的緊急會議，討論受傷員工救治等相關善後工作，以及旗下企業排查安全生產隱患工作。

　21日淩晨1時和4時，富士康由高層主管帶隊，分兩批連夜前往大陸各地與鴻富錦成都公司生產類似產品的園區和企業，指導、檢查及監督工廠停產和排查隱患工作。

中国・成都のiPad2製造工場で爆発、2人死亡

【5月21日 AFP】中国・四川（Sichuan）省成都（Chengdu）の台湾系大手電子機器メーカー富士康集団（フォックスコン、Foxconn）の工場で20日夜、爆発があり、少なくとも2人が死亡、16人が負傷した。国営新華社（Xinhua）通信が伝えた。報道によれば、爆発は米アップル（Apple）のタブレット型端末「iPad 2」を製造する工場で起きたという。

　新華社通信は市当局者の話として、爆発で労働者16人が負傷し、病院に搬送されたと伝えた。うち3人は重傷だったという。警察は現在、爆発の原因を調査している。

　また、中国紙、経済観察報（Economic Observer）は、粉じん爆発だったのではないかというフォックスコンの従業員の話を伝えた。粉じん爆発は、室内で粉末状の可燃性物質の濃度が上がると起きる危険がある。同紙によると、爆発があった工場ではiPad 2を製造しており、事故当時数百人が勤務中だったという。

　フォックスコンの工場では前年、少なくとも従業員13人が自殺したとみられており、労働環境が過酷だとして批判を受けていた。(c)AFP




富士康爆炸初判 粉塵惹禍 【08:45】

〔中央社〕富士康集團位於四川成都的工業園區，20日晚間廠房發生2死16傷的爆炸意外。當局調查原因，初步查明是工廠打磨廠房的鋁質粉塵在管道內堆積，遇上電器開關冒出火花，在排風筒內引起爆炸。

出事的廠房，是富士康旗下成都的鴻富錦公司，負責部分蘋果平板電腦iPad2生產作業，附近有兩所大學和住宅區。

鳳凰網綜合大陸媒體報導了當局初步調查的爆炸原因，同時表示，事發在昨天晚上7時左右，位於北區的拋光車間(廠房)在作業時發生爆炸，廠房的3樓冒出濃煙，更蔓延到附近的高速公路。

大陸中央電視台透露，爆炸發生時樓內有幾百人，工人和附近居民都聽到聲響和感到震動。

四川省人民醫院稱，爆炸事件中受傷的6男1女被送到人民醫院急救。據透露，這7名都是年輕傷者，其中2名傷勢比較嚴重。

Air France Crash: pitot-icing problems

• MAY 24, 2011

Black Boxes Point to Pilot Error

By ANDY PASZTOR And DANIEL MICHAELS

The pilots of an Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean two years ago apparently became distracted with faulty airspeed indicators and failed to properly deal with other vital systems, including adjusting engine thrust, according to people familiar with preliminary findings from the plane's recorders.

The final moments inside the cockpit of the twin-engine Airbus A330, these people said, indicate the pilots seemingly were confused by alarms they received from various automated flight-control systems as the plane passed through some turbulence typical on the route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. They also faced unexpectedly heavy icing at 35,000 feet. Such icing is renowned for making airspeed-indicators and other external sensors unreliable.

View Full Image

Associated Press

Workers unload debris from Air France flight 447 in June 2009.

Ultimately, despite the fact that primary cockpit displays functioned normally, the crew failed to follow standard procedures to maintain or increase thrust and keep the aircraft's nose level, while trouble-shooting and waiting for the airspeed sensors and related functions to return to normal, according to these people.

Slated to be disclosed by investigators on Friday, the sequence of events captured on the recorders is expected to highlight that the jet slowed dangerously shortly after the autopilot disconnected. The pilots almost immediately faced the beginning of what became a series of automation failures or disconnects related to problems with the plane's airspeed sensors, these people said.

The crew methodically tried to respond to the warnings, according to people familiar with the probe, but apparently had difficulty sorting out the warning messages, chimes and other cues while also keeping close track of essential displays showing engine power and aircraft trajectory.

Spokesmen for Air France, a unit of Air France-KLM, and Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., have declined to comment on any details of the investigation. Airbus last week, however, issued a bulletin reassuring airlines that the preliminary readout of the recorders hasn't prompted any "immediate recommendation" regarding the safety of the global A330 fleet. French investigators, who gave the green light for that statement, also have said their preliminary findings don't highlight any major system failures or malfunctions that could have caused the fatal dive.

Video Archive: Air France Crash

Crews Recover Bodies Likely From Air France Crash

Search for Air France Victims Ends

The Search for Air France Black Boxes

The Air France pilots were never trained to handle precisely such an emergency, according to safety experts and a previous report by France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses, which is heading up the investigation. All 228 people aboard Flight 447 died in the accident.

The senior captain, Marc Dubois, appears to have been on a routine rest break in the cabin when the fatal chain of events started, according to safety experts familiar with the details, but the cockpit-voice recorder suggests he may have rushed back to the cockpit to join the other two Flight 447 pilots.

Though Friday's announcement won't provide final conclusions or specific causes, investigators believe Air France didn't train its pilots to cope with such automation problems in conjunction with a high-altitude aerodynamic stall, an emergency when the wings lose lift and the plane quickly becomes uncontrollable. Since the crash, Airbus and a number carriers, including Air France, have emphasized such training.

According to a report issued by French investigators in November 2009, Airbus identified 32 instances involving similar model jetliners between 2003 and 2009 in which external speed probes, known as pitot tubes, suffered ice buildup at high altitude and caused "erroneous air speed indications." Over the years, the same models also suffered numerous failures of external temperature-sensors because of icing. Both issues were known to Air France.

Most of the incidents with speed sensors involved probes similar to those on the A330 that crashed. Many were on Air France planes, according to the BEA report.

Friday's update follows sniping between senior officials of Air France and Airbus, usually close corporate allies, who in this case have tried to shift the blame for the accident to each other.

Air France began addressing problems with its pitot tubes almost a year before the crash. Amid several incidents in which air crews lost speed indication at high altitude during 2008, Air France reported the icing problems to Airbus. The two companies discussed solutions and Airbus talked to its supplier.

In April 2009, roughly 45 days before the crash, Airbus proposed that Air France swap out its pitot tubes for a different model believed to be less prone to icing, according to the BEA report. Air France began the work on April 27, 2009, and it received the first batch of new pitot tubes six days before the crash. The plane that crashed hadn't yet received the new equipment.

According to the 2009 report published by investigators after the crash, experts examined 13 other incidents of airspeed-sensor malfunctions on Airbus widebody jets at cruise altitudes. During most of those global incidents—none of which resulted in a crash—both the autopilots and automated engine-thrust systems disconnected on their own, and it took many of the flight crews up to a minute to manually adjust engine thrust.

The earlier report found that pilots in nine of those 13 events received warnings of an impending stall. And in a finding that may have particular relevance to the upcoming update, accident investigators in 2009 also concluded that when airspeed-sensor malfunctions kick off automated thrust controls, "the absence of appropriate manual adjustments" to engines "can present a risk" of a mismatch between power settings and the jet's orientation in the air.

Investigators began focusing on pitot problems from the start, because Flight 447's automated maintenance system broadcast 21 separate messages related to such malfunctions during roughly the last four minutes of the fatal flight. But the final report, which may not be released until 2012, also is expected to delve deeper into how European air-safety regulators dealt with persistent reports of pitot-tube icing prior to the crash.

The previous interim report indicated that in late March 2009, less than three months before the crash, European aviation regulators decided that the string of pitot-icing problems on widebody Airbus models wasn't serious enough to require mandatory replacement of pitot tubes.

里山（さとやま）とは、集落、人里に隣接した結果、人間の影響を受けた生態系が存在する山をいう。
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8C%E5%B1%B1

English

Kobori, Hiromi; Richard B. Primack. Participatory Conservation Approaches for Satoyama, the Traditional Forest and Agricultural Landscape of Japan. Ambio. June 2003, 32 (4): 307–311.
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Green 'satoyama' planters cool the steamy urban sprawl

BY SOPHIE KNIGHT STAFF WRITER

2011/05/24

Shoppers stop to rest on green benches centered around a "satoyama" unit in Tokyo's Marunouchi district (Provided by 5 x Midori)After three years, a house in Tokyo's Kami-Meguro district is transformed (Provided by 5 x Midori)A road is brightened up by a string of "satoyama" units by Kashiwanoha campus station in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture (Provided by 5 x Midori)

Tokyo office thermostats will be set to 28 degrees this summer, meaning that workers in the big city face a sweltering few months. While a relaxed dress code of sandals and Hawaiian shirts might help, there's a more colorful way to beat the heat: plant more greenery.

That's what 5 x Midori, a company seeking to return seasonal and native plants to Japan's cities, has been doing since 2004. Reducing the urban "heat island" effect, caused by a concentration of concrete, asphalt and other man-made materials, was just one of founder Fumi Miyata's objectives when she set out to "green" the capital.

"More plants are the answer to a lot of problems--not only dwindling botanical diversity, but also global warming and climate change," explains Miyata. A study at the University of Tokyo showed that having foliage around a building provides more oxygen and reduces the ambient temperature by up to 1.5 degrees.

Unfortunately, beyond its larger parks, Tokyo lacks open green space, with playgrounds and sports fields covered with sand.

Miyata conceived the idea for 5 x Midori when her plans for a garden were thwarted because the land around her house was filled in with concrete. Although she admits that many people get around this problem by placing collections of pot plants on their balconies or porches and squeezing trailing plants wherever they can, she wanted more.

"There's practically no soil in Tokyo," she says. "Wherever you walk, the ground is always covered in concrete. I thought there must be people out there like me who want more greenery, but have no idea how to go about creating it."

Michio Tase, an ecologically-minded architect, helped Miyata design the simple system of interlocking wire mesh boxes that gave the company its name, which means "five times more greenery." When the boxes are filled with soil, plants can grow out of any of the five sides that don't touch the ground.

"The beauty is that you can put them anywhere and make structures or shapes to fit any environment," says Miyata. "We also used a highly absorbent soil, so they don't need frequent watering."

The boxes, which can be used to create hedgerows, benches and even steps, are called "satoyama" units, a reference to the botanically diverse woodlands that once covered Japan. Today much satoyama has been swallowed by industrial and urban sprawl. Up to 25 percent of Japan's indigenous plant species face extinction.

"People don't realize that many Japanese species are dying out," says Miyata. "People are really shocked to hear that "kikyo" (Chinese bellflower), one of the seven flowers of autumn, is on the brink of extinction. So we're trying to bring them back."

One way 5 x Midori is doing this is working with the people of Batto, Tochigi Prefecture, which is surrounded by woodlands. Miyata explains that people used to clear weeds and undergrowth from the forest floor to encourage diversity by preventing stronger plants from dominating and allowing buried seeds to sprout.

Although the practice has largely died out, it has been revived in Batto by 5 x Midori, who use some of the sprouted plants in boxes in the city. Some profits from the sale of boxes are sent back to Batto to fund the next clearing session.

"We can increase botanical diversity while greening the city--it's a symbiotic relationship," says Miyata.

Increased greenery can also have an emotional effect, as Miyata points out: "Plants and flowers make people feel better in spirit and body. One study found that hospital patients who could see greenery through their window had a shorter stay and got better faster than those who didn't."

The boxes have spread through the city extremely fast, with satoyama units visible on roofs, walls, and even carparks. Miyata thinks this is proof of Tokyo's experimental attitude.

"This city is always in flux, and cutting-edge models are always being tested out," she says. "I think more people are realizing how ncessary greenery is in the city. This is just the beginning."

Laboratory Study of Hurricane Preparedness and Mitigation Decisions.

Modeling Behavior: What Motivates People to Prepare, or Not Prepare, for Natural Disasters?

Published: May 11, 2011 in Knowledge@Wharton

Preparing for a natural disaster like a hurricane is critical in minimizing damage, but what motivates individuals to listen to warnings and act is largely unexplored territory.

The question intrigued Wharton marketing professor Robert Meyer, co-director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center. Over the past five years, Meyer has worked to develop an interactive simulation to study how such factors as news media reports, storm warnings and the level of concern expressed by friends and neighbors prompt people to take steps such as installing shutters to protect windows ahead of a hurricane. That model is described in a working paper titled, "Development and Pilot Testing of a Dynamic Hurricane Simulator for the Laboratory Study of Hurricane Preparedness and Mitigation Decisions."

By surveying residents impacted by Hurricane Earl in 2010, Meyer was able to validate that the lab simulation accurately reproduced many of the key aspects of real storm responses. "Those surveys produced the same information we got from the simulation. The two were mirror images of each other," Meyer says. "You can really study how people behave in these extreme events in the virtual world."

His hurricane laboratory is based on a methodology known as information acceleration (IA). Instead of using surveys to get a sense of consumer behavior, IA uses computers to simulate the learning that individuals go through before making a choice on a product -- whether it is reading newspaper stories or talking to friends. First developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1990s, IA was useful in figuring out how consumers would adopt new technologies. Meyer saw an opportunity to use a similar approach to learn how external sources of information drove people to prepare -- or not prepare -- for a hurricane.

Taking on the Role of Meteorologist

Understanding what would prompt people to more effectively get ready for a natural disaster is critical in improving overall disaster preparedness, Meyer says. "We know very little about what triggers decisions" on disaster preparedness and what role different media play in forming risk perceptions. "The National Hurricane Center, for example, wants to be sure it uses the right graphics in giving warnings. And it worries that if people are instead getting their information from friends and family, then our efforts [to convey information about an impending storm] will be wasted."

Meyer's first simulation was set up to resemble a game. First, participants were given reading information to catch them up on the scenario: It is September 2012, and they are living in Pompano Beach, Fla., which is facing a looming hurricane named Gabrielle. In the game, participants had a choice as to how to spend their time: They could either go to work, enjoy leisure activities or take steps to protect themselves and their home from the hurricane. The hurricane preparation work included precautions like stocking up on food and water or installing shutters on windows ahead of the storm. Those preparation measures, however, did not earn any points for participants but rather protected a portion of the utility points they had earned through the work and play activities.

The final stage of the simulation described what happened when the hurricane hit. If it was a direct hit, the protection points came in handy. But if it was a miss, participants found they wasted time on precautions they didn't need. The goal was to have as many points as possible after the hurricane -- something that required participants to balance racking up utility points versus spending time earning protection for those points.

To keep it interesting, Meyer designed the model so that precaution activities varied in how much time they consumed. "We had a roulette thing," he notes. "So if you wanted to put up shutters, the time that took varied. We wanted to make it as realistic as possible because you can't perfectly predict the amount of time it takes to do something." Meyer also varied the outcome of the storm -- whether it mounted a devastating direct hit on a participant's home or left it largely unscathed.

Among the challenges of building the system was creating the content to set the scene. Meyer needed to film a series of television spots with a meteorologist reporting on the severity and path of the storm. Originally, he tried to tap a real meteorologist in Florida but found that the local stations were unwilling to let their people film spots about a fake hurricane. So Meyer himself stepped into the role. "It's okay," he says of his performance. "But I think I should keep my day job."

The original pilot was done with 32 staff employees and graduate students at the University of Miami. It was intended to study two questions: how the variation in television graphics impacted preparedness, and how formal storm warnings by the National Hurricane Center translated into action by viewers. When it came to the graphics question, Meyer was interested in whether the preparation by participants changed depending on the use of two different images showing the storm's likely future path. One image was a simple "cone of uncertainty" that showed a range of areas where the storm might make landfall, without highlighting any one particular location. The second was a "track forecast" where forecasters' best guess as to where the storm would hit was superimposed on the cone. In addition, he wanted to find out what impact the timing of formal warnings by the National Hurricane Center had on preparation.

In the initial pilot, preparation activities peaked before the formal watches and warnings were issued -- an indication that South Floridians were prone to take action well before the onset of a storm. At the same time, the pilot found that the presence of a track forecast on the weather map, which in the simulator ran above Pompano Beach where fictitious the homes stood, caused participants on average to spend less time on preparation. The possible reason: People were less inclined to prepare for the storm once they saw their town was unlikely to get the brunt of it.

Testing It Out on Hurricane Earl

Whether the results of Meyer's simulation would match what is found in a real storm was unclear. But Meyer had the chance to test this out with regard to one element of his pilot study when Hurricane Earl was threatening the eastern United States in 2010. A telephone survey of 195 North Carolina residents three days before Earl was expected to make landfall found that, just as the model predicted, residents took some precautions well before the storm drew close and formal warnings were posted. The residents had levels of concern that far exceeded what was warranted by the technical forecasts from the National Hurricane Center. But as the storm drew closer, their concern level fell even as the government forecasts grew more worrisome. (Meyer could not test the validity of the finding about how the type of graphic used affected preparation since all residents in North Carolina were exposed to the same graphic.)

Meyer was not completely satisfied with this original version of the simulation. His concern was that the game mindset might induce people to behave a bit differently -- perhaps to take more risk to rack up more points than they would in real life. So the latest generation of the simulation dispenses with the game approach and creates a virtual world where someone moves around his or her home to gather information on the storm or make preparations. Not only does the immersion approach more accurately reflect real life, but participants can also move through the experiment in 20 minutes versus 90 minutes for the game model.

In April of 2011, the new simulation was tested out by 387 Florida residents and produced some interesting findings. First, the new simulation found that people did not rely very much on the opinions of friends and neighbors when making preparation decisions. That finding was reinforced by the telephone surveys of residents impacted by Hurricane Earl. Second, Meyer also found that "storm fatigue" has a real impact on how people respond to a new threat. So with one group, he had participants read a series of stories about very destructive storms earlier in the hurricane season, while a second group read clippings about less destructive storms. The group that was bombarded with news about very bad storms actually prepared less in the simulation that followed than the other group. "You have a crowding out effect with disasters," according to Meyer. "As you have one after another, people care less about the next one."

The new immersion approach did turn up one finding that conflicted with the original approach. In the immersion model, the group that viewed a graphic showing the most likely path of the hurricane along with a "cone of uncertainty" prepared more -- not less -- than the group that was only shown the uncertainty cone. Meyer says in this case, the group that lived in the area of that likely path line prepared more than others, but the preparation of those outside the likely path zone didn't fall. Hence, the overall net effect was that including a center-line forecast helped increase mean levels of preparation over the entire threatened region.

That information could be extremely valuable to the National Hurricane Center as it decides how to convey information on future storms. The simulation approach, Meyer notes, is also of value in upping preparation for other natural disasters. With earthquakes, for example, while there is no advance warning, people still have to make decisions about building a home designed to withstand an earthquake or making improvements to an existing home that would limit damage in an earthquake. So the model could be used to determine what kinds of messages motivate people to make those investments. The U.S. Geological Survey, meanwhile, has inquired about using the model to help it figure out the optimal way to provide warnings and calls for evacuations in southern California in the event of mudslides and debris flows from heavy rains. In addition, a New York utility is looking into using the simulation to train its own employees on how to handle power outages following a storm.

Meyer has plans to hone his simulation further. He wants to study how emotions drive decisions in the event of a disaster. "There is a difference between someone describing a hypothetical situation [of a looming storm] and looking out the window and seeing the real thing," Meyer points out. "You need to make it realistic and capture the emotions." He plans to use tools to measure the physiological reaction people have when they are going through the simulation. When people see loops of the satellite images of a storm on television, "we want to know what that does to them physiologically. The emotional reaction to disasters is important."

a fire that hit a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline 六輕再度發生工安事故，

六輕再度發生工安事故，環保團體再次抨擊政府縱容大企業危害環境，要求立即停止六輕五期擴建計畫；工業局表示，農曆年後，台塑已主動表示將暫緩進行。

　　雲林縣淺海養殖權益促進會理事長林進郎說，六輕廠工安事故一再發生，政府的檢查與台塑的承諾都淪為口號，應請公正第三者進行體檢，該關廠就要嚴格執行關廠，該處罰就要處罰。

　　台灣生態保護協會雲林工作站主任陳清圳指出，六輕再爆工安事故，顯示除了台塑內部管理機制出現問題，包括政府工安檢查等外在處理機制也需檢討；台塑對於六輕現有的廠區都已經無法妥善處理，更不可能管好五期擴廠，須停止這項投資案。

　 　針對環團呼籲停止六輕五期擴建案申請，經濟部工業局長杜紫軍表示，六輕五期擴建案已進行過地方說明會，本應再送環保署進行第二階段環評，但在今年農曆年 後，台塑主動來函表示「要暫緩」，因此擴建案目前已停頓。環保署綜合計畫處長葉俊宏表示，環保署迄未收到六輕五期第二階段環評評估書。

　　台塑集團主管說，六輕五期擴建計畫的總投資金額預估可達新台幣2,800多億元，假如政府不合理設限過多，基於股東權益，台塑會評估不做，乾脆尋覓海外其他合理投資環境。

Formosa may defer May/June naphtha shipments to July

* Shutdown of 700,000 tpy No. 1 cracker unclear

* Two other crackers running at 100 pct capacity

SINGAPORE, May 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp could delay some shipments of naphtha feedstock after it shut its No. 1 cracker following a fire that hit a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline, traders said on Friday.

This could snap the strong sentiment in the naphtha market since second-half April due to a drop in European barrels to Asia. [ID:nL3E7FQ0WN]

"Formosa will likely delay some naphtha shipments, and the market is reacting to that with paper spreads seen weaker," said a Singapore trader.

June/July paper spreads fell $1.88 on Friday, the biggest one-day decline since January, to a more than one-month low of $3.38 a tonne.

How much Formosa will defer and for how long were not immediately clear, although some traders expect May/June cargoes to be rolled over to July.

The No. 1 cracker -- with a total capacity of 700,000 tonnes per year (tpy) -- uses nearly 43,000 tonnes of naphtha a week if it is not using any LPG.

Formosa Petrochemical, Asia's top naphtha buyer, operates three naphtha crackers at its 2.93 million tonnes-per-year (tpy) ethylene facility in Mailiao, and uses LPG to replace about 15 percent of its naphtha raw material.

Its two larger crackers are operating at full capacity, traders added.

IMPACT TO BE LESS SEVERE VS LAST JULY

The No. 1 cracker was the same unit that was closed for a prolonged period from July to October last year due to a fire sparked by a leakage at a distillation tower. [ID:nSGE6660GD]

Back then, the market slumped shortly after the No. 1 unit was shut on July 7. Asian naphtha margins sunk to a 14-month low on July 19 at $50.60 a tonne premium.

Cracks as of Thursday were at a $156.60 a tonne premium.

"If the shutdown of the cracker is limited to a week, the impact is not that big," said a North Asian trader.

Formosa had also shut a No. 1 line that produces more than 440,000 tonnes of aromatics operated by Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp .

A spokesman said the fire at the pipe was put out around 5:45 a.m. on Friday after breaking out on Thursday evening.

Because of the damage to the pipeline, the ethylene and aromatics units were shut, although they were not damaged by the fire, the spokesman said.

While traders estimated that the aromatics unit may be able to restart from next week, they were unsure when the cracker could resume.

"But I think the cracker should be able to restart shortly, because production was halted for safety reasons and not because it was damaged," said a third trader.

The Mailiao complex was hit by two fires in a month last July, raising concern over its safety record. (Reporting by Seng Li Peng and Jasmin Choo in SINGAPORE and Jeanny Kao and Jonathan Standing in TAIPEI; Editing by Michael Urquhart)

地震破壞力不容小視: 不只是Tsunami

EDITORIAL: Tsunami not the only safety concern for Hamaoka plant

2011/05/11

Chubu Electric Power Co. decided on May 9 to halt, for the time being, operations of all reactors at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant, which is located right above what seismologists say will be the focus of an expected Tokai earthquake.

The company made the decision in an emergency board meeting in response to Prime Minister Naoto Kan's unusual request for the action.

The March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake has triggered a disastrous accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., shattering the myth of the safety of nuclear power generation.

There is clearly a compelling case for shutting down the nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is considered the most dangerous in Japan, and taking fresh measures to bolster the safety of the plant.

One troubling element in the move is that the suspension of reactor operations requested by Kan is limited to the period until medium- to long-term safety measures, like the construction of levees, have been implemented at the plant.

This raises the question of whether the plant is strong enough to withstand the violent shaking of the ground caused by powerful seismic waves in the first place.

The medium- to long-term safety measures have been called for by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in light of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant. They are aimed at enhancing defenses against massive tsunami and potential losses of power sources.

Besides building levees, Chubu Electric says that it will also install watertight doors, a backup reactor cooling system and additional power sources for emergencies.

But the blueprint doesn't contain measures for checking and enhancing the safety of the plant against quakes themselves.

The principal concern about the Hamaoka plant has been whether it can withstand the force of the expected Tokai earthquake, a mega-quake that occurs at the boundaries of tectonic plates.

In response to the concern, Chubu Electric announced in 2005 plans to strengthen the quake resistance of the plant. Other electric power companies have followed suit.

But NISA's assessment of the quake resistance of the Hamaoka plant based on the new quake safety standards adopted in 2006 is not yet over.

The assessment has been delayed by the safety implications of some recent seismic events, including the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-oki Earthquake, which shook the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture with a far stronger intensity than TEPCO had expected.

It is also necessary to glean lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Regarding the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, attention has been focused on the height of the tsunami that struck the facilities.

But it is possible that the piping of the reactors might have been seriously damaged by the intense shaking before the tsunami hit.

The March 11 earthquake was marked not just by its strong peak ground acceleration but also by the unusual length of the shaking.

What is crucial in taking safety precautions is not to focus too much on a single aspect.

The Fukushima No. 1 plant suffered unexpectedly serious damage from a tsunami, a factor that had not been given much attention in preparations for a natural disaster.

But it would be foolish to go to the opposite extreme and concentrate only on the danger of tsunami in taking precautionary measures to make the Hamaoka plant safer.

Let us not forget the destructive force of the shaking of a mammoth quake.

New important discoveries have been made almost annually about the mechanisms and risks of earthquakes that occur in areas surrounding the Japanese archipelago.

Such new knowledge should be used for the sake of making more informed decisions on whether to keep or stop operating specific reactors.

A greater dose of flexibility is needed for the government's nuclear power policy.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 10

日本政府須要採取更嚴格的食品安全標準

VOX POPULI: Government needs to adopt stricter food safety standards

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.

2011/05/08

In the novel "Botchan" by Soseki Natsume (1867-1916), there is a scene where the protagonist and his colleague, Yama-arashi, dine together on sukiyaki. The beef needs to be simmered in the pot at the table, but the protagonist, being a typical impatient Edokko (Tokyoite), starts digging in before the meat is fully cooked. Yama-arashi, who is from Aizu (present-day western Fukushima Prefecture) and more laid back, admonishes him: "Hey, that meat isn't done yet. You're going to get a tapeworm from that."

Whether his ominous pronouncement was justified or not, it is a fact that there were no refrigerators in Soseki's time. When it came to eating perishables, people must have been much more careful than we are today. In fact, there were all sorts of sayings back then--now practically obsolete--that warned people to watch out for food spoilage. For instance, "saba no ikigusare" (literally "live, rotting mackerel") and "natsu no iwashi" (summer sardine) implied that fish spoiled faster than people thought.

I was reminded of these expressions as well as the scene from Soseki's novel by the recent string of food poisoning cases at a chain of yakiniku restaurants. Four people have died from eating "yukhoe" or seasoned raw beef, and more than 20 taken violently ill. With police now investigating the restaurants, the public’s faith in the safety of this popular delicacy has been badly shaken.

Restaurants are allowed to serve raw meat so long as they prepare it according to the government’s sanitation standards. And the government merely "instructs" restaurants to follow these standards, and there are no penalties for noncompliance. Since what goes on in the kitchen is unknown to customers and health authorities, some restaurants have apparently become lax with the standards.

Although government regulations alone do not ensure food safety, the food poisoning cases are another sobering reminder that we should never take safety of any kind for granted.

Traditionally, "fugu" (pufferfish) has topped the list of food one eats at one's own risk. Considered a great delicacy, many gourmets find it irresistible, even though it contains deadly tetrodotoxins that must be carefully removed before contaminating the meat. A haiku by Sojo Hino (1901-1956) goes: "I'm a boy/ I bet my life on fugu."

But yakiniku is something people enjoy with family and friends, and nobody's "courage" should be tested by it.

Back to the sukiyaki scene in Soseki's novel. The protagonist shrugs aside Yama-arashi's caution and replies, "It's probably going to be all right."

That's his decision, and I'm fine with that. But it's not fine if a restaurant or the government makes that decision for me. The government must take the "probably" out of the equation at once.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 7

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Environmental Ethics 環境倫理學

由日经商业出版公司运营的“日经BP环境经营论坛”

进行的第11次“日本环保品牌调查”结果日前揭晓。在被调查的560家企业中，松下勇夺环保品牌榜首。该公司的空调、洗衣机等节能家电深受消费者欢迎。之前连续10年蝉联第一的丰田退居第二。

Environmental Ethics by Holmes Rolston III《環境倫理學：對...

姑且聽之: 檸檬（lemon）的"抗癌"效果好

此傳來的信息是檸檬（lemon）的"抗癌"效果好 姑且聽之


Subject: A must-read-

The surprising benefits of lemon! I remain perplexed! ================================ Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Charles Street Baltimore , MD 1201. This is the latest in medicine, effective for cancer! Read carefully & you be the judge. Lemon (Citrus) is a miraculous product to kill cancer cells. It is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy. Why do we not know about that? Because there are laboratories interested in making a synthetic version that will bring them huge profits. You can now help a friend in need by letting him/her know that lemon juice is beneficial in preventing the disease. Its taste is pleasant and it does not produce the horrific effects of chemotherapy. How many people will die while this closely guarded secret is kept, so as not to jeopardize the beneficial multimillionaires large corporations? As you know, the lemon tree is known for its varieties of lemons and limes. You can eat the fruit in different ways: you can eat the pulp, juice press, prepare drinks, sorbets, pastries, etc... It is credited with many virtues, but the most interesting is the effect it produces on cysts and tumors. This plant is a proven remedy against cancers of all types. Some say it is very useful in all variants of cancer. It is considered also as an antimicrobial spectrum against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure which is too high and an antidepressant, combats stress and nervous disorders. The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that: It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas ... The compounds of this tree showed 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, a drug normally used chemotherapeutic in the world, slowing the growth of cancer cells. And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract only destroys malignant cancer cells and it does not affect healthy cells.

Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Cause Street, Baltimore, MD1201

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