Management Policy
According to Taiwan’s regulations, Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances are categorized into 4 classes, of which Class 1 to 3 are the “not prone to decomposing”, “Chronic Toxicity” and “Acute Toxicity” respectively, and Class 4 has endocrine disruptor properties, environmental pollutants or chemicals which endanger human health. There are currently 344 substances under Class 1 to 4. In the year 2020, N2O was declared by EPA as the first “Concerned Chemical Substance” under the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act, and in year 2021, total of 3 substances classified as “Concerned Chemical Substance”.
Those that manufacture, import, export, sell, transport, use, or store Class 1, 2, or 3 toxic chemical substances must apply for a permit, registration, or approval documents; the disposal of such substances should have a report, an attached disposal declaration and detail by batch to the special municipality, county or city competent authority for registration according to the “Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act”, and may only begin handling after doing so. The handling of Class 4 toxic chemical substances shall be performed upon permission of the competent authorities in compliance with authorized items.
Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Category
| Classification | Class 1 (not prone to decompose) |
Class 2 (Chronic Toxicity) |
Class 3 (Acute Toxicity) |
Class 4 | Concerned Chemical Substance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | not prone to decomposing in the environment or pollute the environment or endanger human health due to bioaccumulation, bioconcentration, or biotransformation. | Cause tumors, infertility, teratogenesis, genetic mutations, or other chronic diseases. | Endanger human health or the lives of biological organisms immediately upon exposure. | Chemicals have endocrine disruptor properties, or environmental pollutant endanger human health. | Chemical substances other than toxic chemical matters and are based on their specification or local and international consumer expenditure subjects. |
Control Measures
According to the “The Employment Management Regulations of Environmental Dedicated Units or Personnel” as announced by EPA, TTY is not required to take the role of the dedicated personnel; however, to establish a safe environment for using chemicals, TTY has successively trained 8 colleagues (6 in Lioudu factory and 2 in Chungli factory) and they acquired professional technical management certificates on verifying toxic chemicals.
Before the procurement of new chemical substances, it should be verified whether certain substances are under the control of the authority. If yes, license(s), registration, or approval should be obtained from the local EPB before procurement. After the use of the categorized substances, management persons are obliged to complete usage records and a monthly usage report should be filed online.
Toxicity Management Flow
Before using toxic chemical substances, TTY applies for the required documentation and prepares an SDS and Basic Disaster Prevention Data Sheet. The containers for such substances are labeled with cautionary and warning signs. In addition, TTY has joined the National Disasters Prevention and Protection Commission, an organization that reacts to disasters with agreed-upon protocols for incidents that occur during the use or storage of toxic chemical substances. Any incidents should be reported within 30 minutes, and contingency teams must reach the location within 2 hours.
Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Currently Used
| Toxicity Classification | Chungli Factory | Lioudu Factory | Neihu Factory | Translational Research Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 1~3 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 1 |
| Class 4 | 13 | 16 | 26 | 1 |
| Concerned Chemical Substance | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |